Hiding My Heart
by Farewellxo
Summary: Sequel to Golden; All about the Forman and Hyde families as their children grow up and the challenges they face. JH, ED, RK, Kelso/Suzy, Fez/OC. Finished.
1. Throw It All Away

A/N: Alright, new story! Before reading this, read my story GOLDEN, or else you'll catch spoilers to that in the beginning of this story. Hope I stirred up a little excitement with the ending to the previous story, or threw something fairly new in your face! This chapter is basically starting off where Hyde comes back, and nobody but Jackie knows why, and then when they tell all of their friends and family.  
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One day after the call...

Jackie nervously waited by the door for Steven Hyde to walk in. He was due to come in any moment now, and she was as anxious as anything for him to show up, which was proved by her constant pacing and the tapping of her foot.

"Jackie!" Kitty called from the kitchen, "Aren't you going to come in and eat something?"

"I will in a minute, Mrs. Forman!" Jackie called.

"Well, standing over by the door isn't going to do you any good," Kitty commented, "Why are you over there anyway?"

"I'm not! I'm just..." Jackie ran over and sat on the stool by the piano. "I'm sitting on the piano bench!"

"Kitty, I'm telling you, she's going through a weird phase!" Red said, and then muttered, "I think the girl's been going insane for the past couple of days."

"Mommy, what's insane mean?" Davey called from the table to the living room.

"Mr. Forman, did you just call me insane?" Jackie called from the piano bench.

"Come on over in the kitchen!" Red yelled, "Keep screaming like this and you're gonna wind up with no voice tomorrow!"

Jackie started to get up slowly, checking by the door, just in case Hyde would miraculously show up out of nowhere.

"Jackie!"

"I'm coming!" She ran to the kitchen before anybody else yelled.

"Take a seat and stay for a while, ha ha!" Kitty laughed.

"I'm sitting." Jackie dumped a spoonful of mashed potatoes on her plate.

"Why on earth are you so jumpy?" Kitty asked, "Has Eric's leaving bothered you?"

"No," Jackie answered, "I'm fine about that. I still see Donna and Eric every day. I'm not even all that upset about it."

"Well, they may not be coming tonight," Kitty replied, "Donna's sick and-"

Jackie cut in, "No, she called me earlier and said that she went to the doctor today and they said she was fine. Although she said that she has something to te-"

Jackie stopped midsentence as she heard a knock on the door.

"I-I'll get it!" She jumped up and ran to the door.

"Steven!" Jackie exclaimed when she opened the door. "What a surprise!" She hugged him tightly.

"I'm guessing you didn't tell them I was coming," Hyde murmured into her ear, mid-hug.

"They would want to know why," she explained quietly before pulling away.

"Steven," Kitty ran into the living room to hug her 'almost son,' "what on earth are you doing here?"

Red walked in, too, with Davey trailing behind him.

"This one knew he was coming," Red pointed at Jackie, "that's why she was so antsy. You would have thought Ho Chi Minh was at her door with a gun."

"Me?" Jackie looked around in fake disbelief, "No way. I didn't know he was coming! /You're/ the insane one!"

"Never been a good liar, Jacks," Hyde said.

"Jackie, tell us what he's doing here," Kitty said.

"He... wanted to visit! He said that he missed you guys... a lot. And he... he wanted to congratulate Eric and Donna again! Since he never gave them a proper goodbye before." Jackie managed to stutter the first idea that had come to her mind.

"Aw, Steven, is that true?" Kitty asked with a smile.

"Uh... yup," he responded casually, "goodbyes aren't my favorite thing to do."

"Now, bye, we've gotta go!" Jackie pulled Hyde's arm, leading him to the front porch, and leaving everybody inside confused.

"Good job, Jackie," Hyde retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "When in doubt, run to the nearest exit and slam the door. That'll leave everybody perfectly content."

"Steven, you know I couldn't just sit there and /eat/, knowing that we had something important to talk about!" Jackie said.

Hyde paused once she stopped talking. "So, what are we gonna do about this situation?" he asked slowly.

"Situation? This is more than a situation, Steven."

"Okay... well, how are we going to tell everybody?"

"I... I don't know." Jackie took a seat on the porch steps. "They're gonna think I'm a whore. They didn't even know that we got together when you were here." She frowned.

"They'll... understand, maybe. I mean, they'll be shocked at first, but..." Hyde tried to think of reassuring words, but couldn't find any.

"See? Even you can't deny that they'll be upset, surprised... God, why did we have to go and do this?" She buried her head in her hands.

Hyde sat next to her. "It'll be fine in the long run," he put a reassuring hand on her back for emphasis, "I'll be here, this time, and... that's that."

She looked up at him. "And where does that leave us, exactly?" she asked.

"Dunno." He checked behind him, to make sure that nobody had come outside. "Wherever you want it to, I guess."

"Well," Jackie said, "I don't really know what to say, then. But Eric and Donna are coming over after dinner -they've been doing that every night ever since they got back- and we can tell them all once they get here." She picked up a little pebble and threw it as she talked. " But I'd rather wait to tell Davey, though... so if we could manage to get him to the other room at the time, or something?"

Hyde nodded. "We could try that."

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Ten minutes after Hyde and Jackie's talk outside, Donna and Eric arrived at the Forman household.

Immediately after they arrived, everybody gathered in the living room to talk, as usual.

"So I was getting my hair done today, and guess who I saw?" Kitty said, "Cindy Wickel. My old-"

Jackie stopped her. "Sorry, Mrs. Forman," she said apologetically, "but we have some news."

"So do we." Eric said, standing up along with Donna.

Jackie gestured to Hyde to get Davey out of the room, which Hyde did by taking Davey upstairs and giving him a coloring book.

Once he returned back downstairs and took his place beside Jackie, he turned to Eric. "Why don't you guys go first?"

Eric shrugged nervously. "Alright." He turned to Donna, his face fearful, and they both said in unison, "We're expecting!"

"Oh my God!" Kitty ran up and hugged them, "I'm gonna have another little grandbaby!"

Red had an unhappy, yet somehow proud look on his face.

Jackie and Hyde turned to each other in shock. They weren't expecting this.

"Congrats, Forman, Donna," Hyde nodded each of them.

"Yeah. Wow, this is great!" Jackie said to Donna, proudly standing up, "Because I'm pregnant, too!"

Everybody turned to face her and Hyde.

"What did you say?" Kitty asked quietly in disbelief.

"She said that she's pregnant again," Hyde stood next to Jackie and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"When... I mean, how... I didn't even know you guys were back together!" Eric cried in amazement.

"We aren't." Hyde confirmed.

"He means, we didn't even know you guys /got/ together?" Donna stepped in, "It is Hyde's kid, right?"

Jackie nodded slowly.

"When did you guys do this?" Eric asked.

"After your wedding," Hyde said, "and... then some."

"Kelso was right!" Donna exclaimed, "For once, Kelso was right! He /did/ see you two kissing!"

"Anyway," Kitty turned to Jackie and Hyde, "I'm very happy for you two, too! I just hope... that you figure things out!"

"How far along are you?" Jackie asked Donna.

"One month," Donna said proudly.

"Wow..." Jackie said, "I'm only two weeks! So you were pregnant for your wedding, then?"

Donna nodded.

"So... you're tellin' me," Eric said warily, "that you two... hooked up... at our wedding?" He gestured between him and Donna.

"Yup, man, that's what we're tellin' you," Hyde said.

"Huh..." Eric looked around. "Hey, where'd Davey go?"

Hyde turned to Jackie. "Davey!"

Jackie ran upstairs to get him, and then sat him down on the couch where everybody else was.

"You sure we should do this?" Jackie asked Hyde quietly.

"I think he'd notice if we didn't tell him." Hyde patted her forward.

"What's going on?" Davey asked.

"Davey," Jackie walked closer to him, "your daddy and I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" he asked anxiously.

"It's... we're... I'm pregnant!"

Davey sat on the couch in confusion. "What's pregnant mean, mommy?"

"It means... it means that Mommy has a baby in her tummy," Jackie placed a hand on her stomach.

Davey's eyes widened. "No way! Can you hear it cry?" He put his ear to her flat stomach, and then looked up at her. "All I heard was a growl. Are you hungry, Mommy?"

"Yes!" Jackie beamed. "I'm eating for two now!" She walked into the kitchen, and Donna and Kitty followed her.

Davey turned to Hyde. "When is it gonna come out?" he asked.

"Eight months?" Hyde thought about it, and then confirmed, "Yeah, I think eight months."

"That's a long time," Davey said, and then thought for a moment. "Does this mean that you're gonna stay?"

"Yeah," Hyde said. "I'm staying."

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Work started at eight at night for Jackie, so she started to get ready around seven thirty.

Working at a bar was actually tough. She had to get all made up correctly and wear a specific outfit, and deal with being leered at a lot.

Jackie was in the upstairs bathroom putting on eyeliner when she heard footsteps approach the doorway.

"Mommy, don't go to work, tonight," Davey said quietly.

"Aw, baby..." Jackie walked up to him and bent down to his height. "We go through this every night. I have to go."

"But I like when you're here. 'Cause now I have to sleep alone no matter what since Uncle Eric doesn't live here anymore." Davey looked sadly up at his mother.

"Well..." Jackie thought for a moment. "Your daddy's here, now. Maybe you could stay in the basement if you're scared." She offered him a smile.

"I still want you to be here," he said, hugging her legs.

Jackie tried to remain steady and placed a hand on his head. "I have the night off tomorrow, babe. I'll be here then."

"Why not tonight?"

"Because then you'll tell me that you don't want me to go tomorrow." She raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Davey didn't know what to say, so he sat on the edge of the bathtub silently.

"Is it gonna be a girl or boy?" he asked randomly.

"I don't know yet, babe," Jackie said. "We'll find out in a couple months."

"Are you gonna forget about me?" he asked after a moment.

"No, no, no, baby!" Jackie ran over to him and sat in front of him. "I would never do that. Honey, I love you more than anything or anyone in the world. I would /never/ forget about you."

Hyde walked in the bathroom and saw Jackie sitting in front of the bathtub talking to Davey.

"What's going on in here?" he asked.

"Davey thinks I'm gonna forget about him when the baby's born," Jackie said.

Hyde frowned. Jackie was acting as if it was perfectly normal to have to kids out of wedlock, without even /dating/.

"Nah, kid, that won't happen," he said, and walked closer to where Jackie and Davey were.

"They make you wear that for work?" Hyde asked, looking her over. Jackie was wearing a short skirt that she was probably required to wear for her job, and it was pretty hot.

"Yeah," she said, "and stop looking!" She stood up again. "What time is it?"

"Quarter to eight," Hyde said.

"Oh, sh... darn." Jackie ran over to the counter and started putting on more makeup.

"You don't even need any of that crap, so why do they make you wear it?" Hyde asked.

"Don't ask me questions, Steven. I have to hurry up!" Jackie continued applying mascara. "And thanks for the compliment."

Hyde narrowed his eyes. "What compliment?"

"You said I don't need to wear makeup... which means you think I'm pretty." Jackie turned around and smiled at him.

Hyde rolled his eyes and waved Davey over.

"Come on, kid. Let's leave your mother alone." 


	2. Cannonball

Jackie arrived at work a half hour late. As she walked through the door, the guys who were usually regulars every night started clapping.

She rolled her eyes. They always did this to her.

She heard loud footsteps hitting the floor behind her, so she turned around and realized that it was her boss, Linda.

"Jackie, let's chat." Linda pulled her arm into the back room.

"Listen Linda, I know I'm late, but I'm sure if you listen, you'll understand," Jackie sang and gave an exaggerated smile.

Linda sighed. "Lemme hear it."

"So, my son Davey never wants me to leave, and he was complaining while I was getting ready. And then his dad came in and then we started talking about the baby, and-"

Linda cut Jackie off. "Wait... you have kids? Two?" She looked surprised.

"No, just one. I'm... pregnant, though." Jackie lightly touched her stomach.

"I didn't even know you were married," Linda commented.

Jackie's eyes widened, and decided to go along with it so she didn't think she was... trampy.

"You didn't know that?" she asked in false surprise. "I thought everybody knew I was married."

Linda looked suspicious. "For how long?"

"Uh," Jackie thought. "Two years."

"But didn't you date that Luke guy last year?" Linda raised her eyebrows.

Jackie mentally kicked herself. "Uh... yeah. We were... seperated then." She swallowed in attempt to prevent her throat from going dry.

"Anyway," Linda said, "you know that once you start showing noticeably, you get kicked off, right?"

Jackie looked straight up, alarmed. "No... I didn't know that."

"Yeah." Linda narrowed her eyes. "Not only are you around drunks and smoke, but these guys like to hit on the waitresses. You should know that," she said. "And they don't think pregnancy is sexy. Plus, it shows that you're married." Linda looked at Jackie's hand for traces of a ring and when she saw none, looked up suspiciously.

"I take it off for work," Jackie said quickly. "So the... guys won't know."

"Clever," Linda admitted.

"So can I work here again once I have the baby?" Jackie asked hopefully.

Linda scoffed. "Honey, you want to work in a /bar/ your entire life? Come on. You've got nearly two kids, a husband... you can find a better job then this, that's for sure. As much as I need help around here, I can just put up a sign and ten whores will show up at once." Linda rolled her eyes casually. "As much as I hate to admit it, I don't want to see anybody turn out like me. Look at me, forty something, unmarried, and owning a small local pub. That ain't good money." She paused. "You don't want that."

Jackie looked at her boss in amazement. She had never heard anything so profound come from such a coldhearted lady. Sure, it wasn't the best talk she'd ever been given, but coming from Linda, this meant something. "The thing is..." Jackie started. "We live in... my husband's parents' house."

Linda quipped. "Well, save up and buy yourself one. Your husband got a job?"

"He... he owns a record store."

Linda nodded and says sarcastically, "Well, it's been nice talking, but Kate's out there alone, and needs help. So get to work!"

Intimidated by Linda's loud voice, Jackie ran out of the room and into the main area to work.

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It had been a few hours since Jackie had left. Hyde sat in the basement watching TV with Eric and Donna. He had put Davey to bed an hour before.

"So, wow, Hyde." Eric glanced at his best friend.

"What?" Hyde narrowed his eyes.

"You and Jackie are having another kid!" Donna blurted.

"Yeah?" Hyde looked over casually.

"How can you be so normal about this? I mean, one kid not having a dad for four years is bad enough. But then you come back and get her pregnant again!" Donna exclaimed.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere," Hyde commented. "If you haven't noticed, I got here right when Jackie told me."

Donna considered this and nodded.

"I don't want to see another kid grow up like that," Eric said, "and I don't want to see Jackie get hurt like that again, either."

"She's not getting hurt," Hyde said defensively.

"From what you know. Once Davey was born, she was so upset that you weren't there. She used to cry every night," Eric told Hyde.

"Listen, whatever you guys know, odds are I know more. Jackie's told me all of this. She trusts me on this. Don't worry so much." Hyde frowned.

Eric looked down at the ground. "I think you still kind of like her," he muttered.

"What was that?" Hyde asked.

"I said," Eric took a deep breath. "I think you still like Jackie."

Hyde raised his eyebrows. "Forman, can't a guy help the mother of his kid raise him? Just because I'm doing something nice for once doesn't mean I like Jackie."

"Well, it kinda seems like you do, considering what happened at our wedding!" Eric exclaimed.

"Shut up, Forman." Hyde threw a box of tissues that was next to him at Eric. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"But of course I do," Eric smiled menacingly. "I'm gonna be a teacher at Point Place High School... and, might I add, would it be any different if she had any feelings left for you?"

Hyde now threw the remote at Eric, who dodged it by putting up a pillow. "Shut up, Forman!" Hyde said. "She doesn't have any feelings left over for me; neither do I."

"Yeah, then what was that night all about. I saw no alcohol in sight, either, with the exception of some mild champagne, so don't go blaming it on that." Eric raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know," Hyde narrowed his eyes and shrugged. "It just happened."

Eric gave Hyde a teasing grin, causing Hyde to throw one of Davey's toy planes at him. This time, he couldn't dodge it.

"Ow!" Eric cried in pain as the plane hit his shoulder. "That's my sensitive spot," he said while rubbing it.

Donna laughed and high-fived Hyde. "Now, don't go throwing toy planes at me, but..." Donna trailed off. "What are you gonna do when the baby's born? Stay here? Date other girls?"

Hyde shrugged. "Whatever I feel like doing. I'll stay here, obviously."

Donna and Eric sighed. They weren't gonna get any emotion from Hyde, at least not tonight.

"You know what? We're just gonna go." Donna grabbed her husband's hand, irritated, and walked out the door.

Some hours had passed, and it was now almost five. Jackie was just returning to the Forman household, and decided to come in the basement door because she knew that her son was probably sleeping down there. Turning the key, she opened the door and saw Hyde sleeping on the couch.

Upon hearing her walk in, Hyde woke up. He yawned, stood up, and walked over to her.

"Sorry I woke you up," Jackie said sympathetically.

"It's okay." Hyde looked around the room. "He's in my room, by the way."

Jackie walked over to Hyde's room to find her son sleeping on the cot. Hyde followed her over to the other room.

"Aw... my baby," she said softly, smiling at the position he was laying in.

She was about to pick him up when Hyde stopped her. "Let the kid sleep, Jacks," he said softly.

Jackie smiled at him. "I guess so." She walked over to the main basement area and sat on the couch. "What time did he go to bed?" she asked Hyde.

"'Round nine," Hyde said, sitting on the couch, too.

"That's good," Jackie yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Jackie, go to bed," Hyde instructed, seeing how tired she was.

"I... I can't. Not when Davey's gonna get up in an hour anyway." She looked toward the other room and then back at Hyde.

"I don't care. I won't let him get you up, okay? Just sleep."

Jackie nodded and started to walk toward the stairs. Unexpectedly, she turned around.

"When did Eric and Donna leave?" she asked.

"Like eleven. Why?"

"I just wanted to see if they stayed as long as they usually do... even though, I wasn't there... and you were."

Hyde paused. "They kept bugging me and asking me what I was gonna do after the baby's born."

Jackie froze. "Well... what /are/ you going to do?"

He led her to the couch again, because she looked as if she was going to fall over. "I'm staying here, Jackie."

"You're not moving back to Chicago? Ever?" Jackie asked with doubt in her voice.

"Not to live, no. That place... it isn't a friendly place to me." Hyde snickered.

Jackie laughed. "Yeah, me neither." She rested her head on the top of the couch. "It's funny how many years have gone by and... it's still fresh in my memory."

"Yeah, well mine, too." Hyde thought for a moment and said, "What were you and Kelso even doing?" He paused. "Wait, I don't even wanna know." Hyde shook his head.

"No, Steven," Jackie's tone changed from a playful tone to a serious one. "We weren't gonna 'do' anything. It was just Michael and his crazy imagination. He wasn't even gonna spend the night."

"So our relationship basically went down the drain for nothing," Hyde commented.

Jackie nodded sadly, and Hyde just shrugged.

"Guess there's nothing we can do about it now," he said.

"I think we've already done that anyway," Jackie laughed and laid a hand on her stomach.

Hyde smiled. "So, when's the first doctor's appointment?"

"It's next month. The sixth. Why, do you want to come?"

"Why not?" Hyde shrugged, "I am the father."

Jackie smiled and leaned in to hug him.

As she held onto him, she felt her eyelids slowly getting heavier... and heavier.  
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"Mommy! Mommy!" Davey shouted to his mother on the couch two hours later.

Hyde, who was also on the couch, lifted a finger to his mouth to signify silence.

"Daddy, can I wake her up?" Davey asked quietly, gesturing to Jackie, whose head was on Hyde's shoulder.

Hyde shook his head. "Sorry, kid. She's real tired," he whispered.

"Can I play down here still?" Davey asked.

"Yeah," Hyde said, "I'll just bring your mom upstairs." Hyde picked up a sleeping Jackie and carried her up two flights of stairs to her room. As he set her on the bed, he turned around to leave. She stirred and her eyelids fluttered until the finally opened.

"Steven," she said quietly.

He turned around. "Yeah?"

"Where was I?"

"We fell asleep in the basement a few hours ago," Hyde said.

"Oh." Jackie's face showed recognition. "I remember now. Where's Davey?"

"He's playing in the basement," Hyde said. "Don't worry about him, I'll make sure he's fine."

"He tried to get me up, didn't he?" she asked and smiled sleepily.

"Yeah," Hyde said. "Yeah, he did. I told him to be quiet, though."

"Okay," Jackie turned on her side in the bed. "Thanks."

Hyde could tell that Jackie was near asleep again by the way she was breathing. She wasn't even under the covers, and she was still wearing the mini skirt from yesterday, and all of the makeup.

He stared at her from a distance, and then shut the door. He had to watch his son.

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Jackie woke up at ten o'clock to Davey's cries. They were nearly like her alarm clock, waking her up every morning.

She got out of bed and yawned, ready to run downstairs, when she realized that she was still in her uniform from the previous night. She grabbed a robe and threw it on over her clothes, planning to shower after she found out why Davey was crying.

"Babe, what's wrong?" she asked once she got to where he was, which was the kitchen.

"He tripped over one of the shoes by the door," Kitty said while putting a band aid over his knee.

"It hurts!" he cried, and showed Jackie where he fell.

"Where's Steven?" Jackie asked.

"He's downstairs on the phone with his father... he wants to own the local Grooves around here now, I guess," Kitty said as she bent down and kissed her grandson's knee. "There, all better! Ha ha!"

"Thank you, Grandma Kitty!" Davey jumped up and ran to his mother. "You slept in too long today, Mommy."

"I know, babe, but I barely slept last night," she explained. "I came home late and then I talked to your daddy for a little bit."

"Daddy had to carry you upstairs," Davey told Jackie.

"He did?" Jackie narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, I guess he did."

Kitty raised her eyebrows. "Why don't you see how his little talk with W.B. is going?"

Jackie shrugged and walked downstairs to hear Hyde yelling at his father on the phone. "I don't /care/ if Angie owns that store; she owns like twenty! ... well, give her the one in Chicago!" He hung up angrily.

"That didn't sound too good," Jackie said as she came up behind him.

Hyde jumped and then turned around. "Whatever," he said.

"That's stupid, if he lets Angie keep all of those stores and won't even give you a second," Jackie said.

"I guess." Hyde shrugged.

Jackie paused and then changed the subject. "Thanks for letting me sleep," she said.

"It's no big deal," Hyde replied.

"Did I fall asleep on the couch last night?" she asked.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "You fell asleep on the couch."

Jackie thought, then remembered that she fell asleep while hugging him. "Oh," she said, and looked away, embarrassed.

"So why was he crying up there earlier?" Hyde asked.

"Oh, he fell and bumped his knee. No big deal." Jackie shrugged.

"I figured he wanted you up or something," Hyde said.

"That's usually the case." Jackie laughed.

"That kid really loves you," Hyde commented. "Hell of a lot more than I ever loved my mother."

Jackie smiled. "Well, thanks, if that was a compliment."

"I guess so." Hyde shrugged.

"Well, I guess I should... uh, go upstairs and... take Davey out or something," Jackie said awkwardly.

"Alright." Hyde sat down on the couch.

"Um, bye." Jackie walked away, leaving Hyde to watch TV and to think. 


	3. Until I Die

The next week had gone horribly.

Jackie had woken up to an overwhelming sense of nausea every morning, causing Davey to think that she was sick.

"Mommy!" he would shout, "I don't want to get sick, too!"

Today was Sunday, though. The start of a new week. It was Jackie's sixth week in pregnancy, and Donna's twelfth.

Donna and Eric were over at the Forman household once again that night. Everybody was sitting in the living room listening to Donna.

"And then, I looked down and realized that I had a little bump!" Donna exclaimed, and gestured to her stomach. "It's not big, but it's there! See?"

Jackie looked down at her own flat stomach and frowned. As strange as it was, she was anxious for her second trimester. At least, for the morning sickness to end. The whole situation made her feel sick and sad, that this had happened to her and Hyde. All because of that night. But, she still couldn't wait to be a mother again.

Hyde saw her looking down and put a reassuring hand over hers.

"Oh my goodness, Donna!" Kitty laughed. "That's my grandchild!"

Donna smiled proudly. She and Eric were excited to become parents, and after practicing with Davey, they figured that they'd be naturals.

Davey turned to his mother. "Is that gonna happen to you?"

"Yeah, soon enough," she said.

"How does it come out?" he asked.

"Um, babe, you know, I think that Scooby Doo's on right now!" Jackie said quickly. "How about if we go in the basement and watch it?"

"Yeah!" Davey jumped up. "Scooby Doo!" They both left the living room.

Donna sat back on the couch. "So Hyde, how's Jackie doing?"

Hyde shrugged. "I dunno. She told me she's been throwing up every morning."

Donna cringed. "I'm so glad that's over with for me."

Eric chipped in. "Me too."

Donna glared at him and returned to her conversation with Hyde. "Are you two back together again, or what?"

"God." Hyde sighed. "Can't you give that a rest? Weren't you the ones who hated when we were together?"

"Well, yeah, at first," Eric said.

"But you two are so in love with each other, it's crazy that you don't see it!" Donna finished.

"We're not in love," Hyde corrected.

"Yeah? Well, what about the little holding-her-hand thing a few minutes ago?" Eric asked.

"I don't know!" Hyde yelled. "I was just trying to make her feel a little better!"

"Eric, Donna, leave the poor boy alone!" Red cut in. "Let him do what he wants. If he wants to hold the loud one's hand, then let him!"

"Whatever." Hyde got up and left the room.

"What, are you gonna join your girlfriend in the basement?" Donna yelled after him.  
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Hyde reached the basement and sat in his chair in a huff.

Jackie and Davey were on the couch watching Scooby Doo.

"What was all that yelling about?" Jackie asked curiously.

"They were... making fun of us again," Hyde said.

"Like... what?" Jackie asked.

"Asking if we got together yet. Why I, like, touched your hand a few minutes ago. Whatever," Hyde muttered.

"When did you touch my hand?" Jackie asked, feigning curiousity.

"I don't know. When Donna was standing up."

"Oh, I think I remember," Jackie said. "You didn't just touch my hand."

"What are you trying to say?" Hyde asked.

"I'm not saying anything. I'm just saying that you kind of... put your hand over mine. I guess."

A silence occured for a few moments, with the exception of the cartoon playing.

"Well, I don't know." Hyde shrugged. "I was just trying to make you feel better. You looked sad."

"Steven." Jackie smiled and touched his arm lightly. "That was sweet of you."

"Whatever." Hyde said.

Jackie started, "What do you think-"

"Shh!" Davey put a finger to his lips. "They're gonna find out who it is!"

Jackie sighed as they sat and watched the cartoon. Suddenly, Hyde stood up and led her to his room.

"We can talk in here," he said as they shut the door.

"Okay," Jackie said.

Hyde turned to her. "Now what were you gonna say?"

"I was gonna say... what do you think about what they're saying?"

Hyde shrugged. "I think it's ridiculous. Just because you're having my... second kid doesn't mean that we still have feelings for each other."

"I know, it's like... why would we? We've gotten... over it. We've been over it for the... for the longest time." Jackie looked away for a moment.

"Yeah," Hyde muttered.

They locked eyes randomly, and out of nowhere, slowly leaned in and kissed.

As the kiss got more passionate, Jackie stopped and pulled away.

"Steven," she said, breathless, "we can't. We won't. Remember last time we kissed? One thing led to another, and..."

Hyde shrugged. "I guess."

A few moments passed by until Jackie piped in and broke the silence.

"Guess this proves us wrong then, huh?" she asked quietly.

Hyde looked away and took off his glasses. "Sure."

"I... I think I might have some feelings for you left. Just a few," she added quickly, and looked over to see what he would say.

Hyde said, "I dunno. S'pose I might, I guess."

"Steven..." she trailed off. "I'm sick of hiding my heart away from everybody who approaches me. But then you come and... this just happens out of nowhere. And honestly... it's weird."

"I know what you mean," he said. "When I was in Chicago, I dated this girl for... two, three months. And I was never into it. Then I came back here, and... I was into it right away. If you get what I mean."

"I get it." She smiled and turned to him. "That wasn't bad, though was it?"

"It was no worse than bowling," Hyde confirmed, smiling, which reminded Jackie of their first date.

Jackie laughed and her tone shifted to a playful one. "Well, just for the record, never kiss me again. Because I hate it when you do." Her tone told Hyde that she meant the total opposite.

They both smiled and leaned in for another kiss, which was somewhat expected, yet unexpected.

Suddenly, the door opened. "Mommy, Scooby Doo is ov..." Davey trailed off as he saw the kiss. Jackie pulled away from Hyde immediately.

"Mommy?" he asked with his mouth open.

"I... we... um, babe... Scooby's over?" she asked, flustered.

He nodded and looked over at Hyde cautiously. "What were you two doing?"

"Um, nothing, babe." Jackie placed a hand on the bed.

"You looked like you were kissing." He scrunched up his nose. "Is... is that what mommies and daddies are /supposed/ to do? Because I thought we weren't normal."

Jackie just stared with her eyes wide open and her hand on her heart.

"It is normal," Hyde said. "And... we wanted to try to be normal. Okay?"

Davey nodded. "Can we... go upstairs?"

"Sure, babe." Jackie walked out of the room, and Hyde followed behind her.

Once they got to the living room where everybody else was, Davey jumped up next to his aunt and uncle.

"Guess what I just saw?" he asked.

"Uh... I don't know. What did you see, Davey?" Eric asked.

Davey started, "I just saw my m-"

"Most favorite episode of Scooby Doo!" Jackie interrupted, and everybody gave her a strange look. "Um... it's just amazing, you know? Scooby finds this-"

"I actually think Jackie's a little tired, right?" Hyde asked in an obvious manner. He led her upstairs, with her in front of him, and turned to the rest of the people in the living room while spinning his finger around the side of his head and pointing to Jackie.

"That was a little odd, don't you think?" Kitty asked.

"Just a little." Donna looked uneasy. "I don't remember her being this... crazy when she was pregnant with Davey."

"I do," Eric said in awe. "She became /nice/! And she stayed that way! Remember?"

"Actually, thinking back... Jackie has kind of lightened up ever since she had Davey," Donna agreed.

FLASHBACK:

March 7, 1979

Eric, Donna, Fez, and Kelso sat in the basement watching cartoons on a rainy Saturday morning.

Suddenly, the door opened up harshly behind them.

As the gang turned to see who it was, they were surprised to see Jackie, covered in water with bags in tow.

Fez stood up quickly. "Jackie? My goddess?" He stepped closer and looked out the door. "Where's Hyde?"

"Move out of my way, you foreigner." Jackie pushed him and sat on the couch, forcing Eric and Donna to move to the edges.

"Yeah, Jackie... where's Hyde at?" Donna asked curiously. "I'm surprised you don't have your entire wedding planned out by now."

"Ha ha, very funny," Jackie said sarcastically and grabbed the remote from Kelso's hands. "God, have you guys ever watched anything /remotely/ mature before?"

"What do you mean, very funny?" Eric asked, and then turned to Jackie in shock. "Wait... don't tell me he backed out?"

"On what?" Jackie asked, irritated.

"Uh, proposing to you?" Donna raised her eyebrows.

Jackie face stayed still for a few moments, her mouth open in shock. Then she turned to Kelso and started pinching him and hitting him with the remote.

"Ow! ...what are you doing, Jackie?!" Kelso shouted. "OW, my eye!"

"He was gonna /propose/?" Jackie asked in disbelief while still pinching Kelso. Then, she suddenly stopped. "Did you know about this, Michael?" she asked angrily.

"OW!" He winced one last time. "No, Jackie, I swear I didn't!"

"What does Kelso have to do with anything?" Fez asked.

"He... ugh!" Jackie turned and started hitting Kelso again.

"Jackie!" Donna called, "Jackie!" She got up and pulled Jackie off of Kelso. "Tell us what happened?"

"HE," Jackie thrust a finger at Kelso, "acted like we were gonna SLEEP together! And then STEVEN walked in! And I'm... I'm PREGNANT!"

Jackie started sobbing and started kicking the wall. "He's not coming back," she said quietly.

"Oh my God, Jackie," Donna stood in front of her friend in shock while the rest watched. "And it's Hyde's?"

Jackie nodded. "It has to be," she said while wiping her eyes.

"Jackie," Kelso said, standing up, "I'm really sorry. You don't even know." He put his hands up in front of him as a guard.

She ignored him and resumed kicking the wall.

"Hey," Eric said softly, "what did that wall ever do to you?" He laughed lightly.

"Actually, Eric," Jackie said, glaring, "Your parents were telling me that I can stay here." She raised her eyebrows. "I know your leaving in five months, and they said with you and... Steven gone... the house will be empty. And by that time the baby... it'll almost be here."

Eric looked utterly shocked. "When are you moving in?"

Jackie smirked. "Tonight."

Eric's face suddenly shifted to display a look of horror. "NO!!!!!!!!!!!"

END FLASHBACK

"God, she was pretty angry that day," Eric said and nodded.

"No, I'm pretty sure I've seen her worse before," Donna said. "But I don't have any time for more flashbacks, so I'll just leave this one for the imagination."

Eric laughed and then turned to Davey. "Wanna go get some ice cream with me and Aunt Donna?"

"Yes!" Davey jumped up, and they all left.

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"I'm not crazy," Jackie insisted. "I may act a little weird, but I swear to God, I'm not crazy."

"I know you're not, doll," Hyde said, sitting down on she and Davey's bed.

Jackie walked up to the full length mirror in her room and turned to her side, lifting up the bottom of her shirt.

She gently dragged a finger down her stomach, and frowned when she didn't feel a slight bump.

"It's not gonna get bigger if you keep looking at it," Hyde commented, which made Jackie jump.

"You can't blame me, Steven," she said. "I just want to beat Donna," she admitted. "But it looks like she's already ahead."

"Beat her? Didn't you do that when you had Davey five years ago?"

She rolled her eyes and sat down next to him on the bed. "You think he's gonna tell?" she asked softly.

Hyde shrugged. "Maybe."

Jackie shook her head and smiled. "It's ridiculous," she said. "It's just like when we got together. Nobody knew."

Hyde raised an eyebrow. "We're together?"

Jackie turned to face him, mouth hung open. "Ste-"

He interrupted her with a smile. "I'm just kidding," he said, as they leaned in for a kiss. 


	4. Happy

Three weeks had passed by, and Jackie had already gone to her doctor's appointment with Hyde.

Now, Jackie was proud as she looked down to see that she had a small bump protruding from her stomach. Nobody else really noticed with the exception of herself, but she kept quiet about it until somebody noticed.

She had let a week or so pass, and when nobody said anything, she frowned, and tried to stick out her middle a little bit extra. Finally, one day when she and Hyde were talking in the basement, he said something.

"So, I see that you're... getting a little bigger," Hyde said awkwardly.

"I was waiting until somebody would say something!" Jackie exclaimed happily. "I mean, I know Donna's is bigger, but... there's something!"

Hyde gave a small smile and nodded.

"And the best part is... no more work! I mean, God knows how hard it's gonna be trying to keep up with Davey this whole time, especially with scarce money, but it's worth it. I hate my job." Jackie scowled.

"I don't blame you," Hyde said. "You leave at like... what, eight? I would hate that. No sleep," he added.

"Well, now Davey will be happy, too," Jackie said, smiling. "He always hates it when I leave."

Hyde raised his eyebrows. "So I've noticed," he said, recalling the previous nights where Davey cried for two hours straight. "God, I wonder how that kid's gonna be when he's older."

She smacked his arm. "He'll be absolutely perfect, just like he is now."

"Where is he, by the way?" Hyde asked.

"Upstairs, last I remember." Jackie shrugged.

"I'm surprised he's not down here. The kid's like, attached to your hip." Hyde smiled.

"Davey!" Jackie called upstairs, thinking of her son.

"Yeah, mommy?" He ran downstairs and Jackie smiled widely as he hugged her legs.

"Nothing, I was just wondering where you were," she said as she hugged him back.

"Can we go somewhere tonight?" he asked as he looked up at his mother.

"Well, we're going to Uncle Eric's and Aunt Donna's." Jackie patted his head.

"Wait, what?" Hyde cut in.

"Mrs. Forman didn't tell you?" Jackie asked, surprised. "Donna wants to try cooking... so we'd better just be careful and do the thing where we pretend we're eating, but in actuality we're just moving food around the plate," Jackie joked as she picked Davey up.

"Can't be doing that much longer," Hyde commented as he glanced at her stomach again.

Jackie shrugged. "He's not very heavy."

Davey grinned and buried his face in his mother's hair.

"So, when are we going to Forman and Donna's?" Hyde asked.

"Jackie, Davey, Steven!" Kitty called from upstairs.

Jackie smirked. "Guess now," she said as she let Davey down.

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"Oh my God, Donna, that was horrible," laughed Jackie as they all exited the kitchen.

"Hey, watch it, midget!" Donna jokingly hit her in the arm.

They all sat in Donna and Eric's living room.

"So, Donna, Eric," Kitty smiled at them. "Have you two thought of any names yet?"

Donna and Eric exchanged smiles. "Well, we find out the sex of the baby in a few weeks," Eric stated.

"But we have thought of some names," Donna added. "We like Gregory, Daniel, and Andrew for a boy."

"And Nora or Andrea for a girl," Eric said.

"Aren't those pretty!" Kitty exclaimed, and then laughed.

Jackie looked at Donna's bump enviously, which was big enough to show that she was 16 weeks pregnant, in comparison to Jackie's small ten week bump.

"You know," Jackie said loudly. "I'm starting to show now." She placed a hand on her stomach for emphasis.

"Oh my God, Jackie, I didn't even notice!" Kitty exclaimed, running over toward Jackie. She inspected it and then agreed. "You are!"

Jackie grinned as Donna rushed over. "Oh my God, you do!" Donna said, turning Jackie in profile view.

"Mommy, is that my brother or sister?" Davey asked curiously.

"Yeah, babe." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "And don't you even start to worry. I love you, honey." She gave him a kiss and sat down on the couch next to Hyde.

Hyde just looked over at her and smiled a little. Her pride and concern was pretty cute. She looked back and smiled, too.

"Now, Davey, get back in here!" Kitty ran after the little boy as he went to the kitchen.

"But Grandma Kitty-"

"No buts, ha ha! Grandma needs a kiss!"

Jackie laughed at the sight.

"That kid sure is loved," Hyde commented, smiling.

"What can I say? He's my son." She grinned over at him.

Hyde laughed. "Yup. Mine too."

Their moment was soon interrupted by Red's snoring, and Eric and Donna sitting down next to them.

"I'm so excited," Donna revealed to Jackie. "I don't think I've ever been this excited in my life before."

"Hey!" Eric said, as he took it offensively.

"Believe me, you're not looking forward to the pain. But afterward..." Jackie paused. "it's amazing."

Hyde frowned. He didn't like hearing about the things he missed out on.

"I'm just so happy that it's finally happening," Donna said, and grabbed Eric's arm. "We're having a child. I just can't get over that."

Eric smiled at his wife. "And you two," he gestured to Jackie and Hyde, "are just weird. Baby number two and you're /still/ not together."

Jackie and Hyde exchanged awkward glances and just nodded.

"I wouldn't dwell on it, Eric," Donna said, putting a hand on her husband's knee. "I'm sure they'll get together by the time the baby's born."

"You know, you're probably right." Eric nodded and glanced at his best friends.

"Shut the hell up!" Hyde slapped Eric's arm and eyed Jackie.

"Yeah, Eric!" She stood up and walked away, pulling Donna with her.

Jackie led Donna to her and Eric's bedroom as Davey followed them in.

"Oh, Donna," she sighed as she sat down. "If only you knew how tough things are gonna be with a baby. I mean there's crying... diapers-"

"I know that. I was there to help you with him, remember?" Donna asked, gesturing to Davey.

"Ah, yes, but that's where you're wrong." Jackie smiled. "You didn't stay the night, so you haven't been fully educated in the 'baby doesn't want you to get any sleep' department."

Donna scrunched up her nose. "Oops. Forgot about that."

"And this one," Jackie grabbed Davey and put him on her lap as he laughed, "definitely didn't want me to ever get any sleep. He still doesn't!" She flipped him on his back began tickling him.

Donna watched the sight and smiled. "You're lucky you've been through this already. You know what to expect."

Jackie shrugged. "But remember how scared I was the first time?" She took in her friend's unsure expression. "I think you'll be a great mom, Donna."

"Really?" Donna grinned, as it wasn't often when you got a compliment or something worthy of that out of Jackie.

Jackie nodded and put Davey back on her lap, who leaned his head on his mother's shoulder.

"So, I really hate to bring this up again, but you and Hyde really seem to be hitting it off," Donna commented.

"Yeah. We're friends," Jackie said.

Donna smiled teasingly. "Just friends?"

"Donna, I don't have feelings for him." She rolled her eyes.

"But I thought you guys said you were trying to be normal?" Davey said to his mother.

"What... what's he talking about?" Donna asked.

"Nothing, right baby?"

"Umm..." Davey looked away.

"Davey, you have permission to tell me what she's talking about," Donna said. When the little boy still wouldn't look at her, she thought of a good bribe. "I'll get you a popsicle after!"

"No!" Jackie shouted as Davey jumped off of his mother's lap and up to his Aunt Donna to whisper in her ear.

"Oh my God," Donna froze once he was done. "You and Hyde... you did! You're together!"

"Nobody said that," Jackie said, inspecting her nails nervously.

"Well, if you're kissing /for fun/, I'd consider it that you were together." Donna smirked at her best friend. When Jackie had no response with the exception of staring, Donna grew a bit angry. "Why are you always so afraid to tell me and Eric these things?" she asked.

"I'm not afraid..." Jackie looked at Davey. "I guess I just don't want to... admit it... is all."

"When can I get the popsicle?" Davey asked.

"Right now!" Donna took Davey by the hand and walked him out of the room. Jackie shook her head and got up also.  
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Four weeks later...

Jackie put Davey to bed around eight thirty. After she did this, she went to the basement to see Hyde, of course.

"Hey, babe," she said casually as she walked down the stairs.

He greeted her with a kiss. "Davey in bed?"

She nodded. "Yup. He didn't even put up a fight tonight." She looked down at her growing belly. "Once this one comes, though. No sleep... I already told Donna that."

"Well, that's just too bad for you. 'Cause I'll be down here, and..."

Jackie slapped his arm. "You /will/ be helping me. You're up late usually, anyway."

"Forman and Donna find out the sex of their baby tomorrow," Hyde said.

"I thought that was next week," Jackie said. "But I guess you're right. I'm just living in the past, I guess."

They watched TV for a few moments. "What do you think it'll be?" Jackie asked.

"Whose... ours or theirs?"

"Either," Jackie said.

Hyde shrugged. "I don't know. Doesn't really matter."

Jackie was about to say "It does matter," but realized that her stomach was growling. She clasped a hand on top of it.

"You hungry?" Hyde asked.

"Yeah," she said, and then paused. "You know what sounds good? Fatso Burger fries with... maple syrup! That sounds good!"

Hyde narrowed his eyes. "That sounds disgusting," he said. "Who would want to eat that?"

"Let's go get some," she pleaded. "Please, Steven? Pregnancy cravings really get to me."

Hyde sighed. "Whatever. Get your coat, though. It's cold out."

She smiled and kissed him before grabbing her jacket from the coat rack.

On the way to Fatso Burger, Jackie thought about being an aunt again, this time to Donna and Eric's child. She rarely ever saw Betsy Kelso, but when she did she loved her to pieces. She was the sweetest little girl, with brown hair and a sincere smile.

"Donna felt the baby kick yesterday," Jackie declared.

"Hers?" Hyde asked.

"Yeah. It's supposed to happen around sixteen to twenty weeks." She looked at her feet. "I want to feel our baby kick."

"Donna's also finding out the sex of her baby tomorrow," Hyde reminded her. "Do you wanna do that or would you rather wait?"

"I think I wanna wait," Jackie decided. "I found out that Davey was a boy early on, and I always kind of wondered what it'd be like to have the doctor say 'it's a blank!' with me actually being surprised."

"That's cool." Hyde nodded as they pulled into Fatso Burger.

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"Mommy!"

Jackie woke up in the basement, with Hyde's arms around her expanding waist, as Davey stood in front of her.

"Baby." She sleepily rose, gently moving Hyde's hands, trying not to disturb or awaken him. "Wh- why am I down here again?"

"I was all alone," Davey cried, hugging her. "I was scared because you weren't there. You're always there."

"Shh... baby, it's okay. I fell asleep down here with your daddy, I guess." She glanced over at Hyde, who was now starting to awaken.

"Jackie," he whispered.

"What?" She turned around to face him.

"Just making sure you were still here, doll," he said.

Davey walked up to him. "Good morning, Daddy."

"Morning, kid." Hyde ruffled Davey's hair and stood up.

"Oh my God, it's nine!" Jackie exclaimed, looking at the clock.

"Yeah... so?" Hyde asked.

"So, Donna's appointment was at eight thirty!" She ran upstairs and saw Kitty in the kitchen.

Kitty narrowed her eyes. "Did you fall asleep down there, Jackie?"

Jackie looked down in embarrassment. "Um... yeah. Did Donna call?"

"Yes! It's a boy!" Kitty exclaimed.

"Another boy!" I thought and smiled. "If I have another boy, then we're all definitely bound for trouble. Three boys!"

"When do you find out, Jackie?"

"In four weeks! I think... but I was considering it and decided to not find out." Jackie told her.

Kitty frowned. "Then how do you know how to decorate the bedroom?"

"It won't be decorated... it'll be with me, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" Kitty clapped her hands together. "Now, did you tell Davey about how he's getting a big boy room? His Uncle Eric's!"

"No, I'm kind of afraid to. I'm not sure how he'll respond; I mean, he freaks out when I'm not in bed when he wakes up."

"Well, Eric was the same way," Kitty shared. "But you can break them of those habits as quickly as they start them. Do whatever it takes."

"Alright," Jackie agreed. "I'll try." She then stopped and thought for a moment. "Will you make sure Davey stays outta trouble? I'm gonna take a shower."

Kitty nodded, so Jackie ran upstairs, just as Hyde and Davey were coming upstairs.

"So what's Donna having?" Hyde asked.

"A boy!" Kitty exclaimed again. "It's another boy!" She crouched down to Davey's height. "Your new cousin is gonna be a boy, Davey!"

Hyde laughed. "I bet Red's happy. I know he has fun with Davey sometimes, and I think now that Forman's grown up, Red's trying to make Davey a little more... unlike Forman."

"Oh, what's wrong with my baby boy being a little... not tough?" Kitty asked, looking toward the door as if Eric would miraculously walk through it.

"Grandma Kitty, where'd Mommy go?" Davey asked.

"She's in the shower, sweetie. But when she comes out, we want to talk to you about something!" Kitty told her grandson.

Davey frowned. "About what?"

"You'll see, sweetie!" Kitty returned to the stove where she was cooking.

The phone rang.

"Steven, could you get that please?" Kitty asked.

"Sure." Hyde stepped closer to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Hyde. Is Jackie there?" Donna's voice asked.

"No. But if you're calling to tell about the baby being a boy, she already knows."

"Oh, okay. But no, actually I wanted to tell her that Kelso called. He and Betsy are coming out next month, I guess. Can you just tell her that? We'll probably be over tonight anyway."

"Sure," Hyde said. "Alright then, bye." He hung up.

Ten minutes later, Jackie was back downstairs and they all sat at the table eating a late breakfast.

"What did you guys want to talk to me about?" Davey asked.

Jackie's face contorted with confusion, and then recognition. "Oh... um," She looked aorund, unable to tell where to start. "Baby, you know how you're gonna have a brother or sister in a couple months?"

Davey nodded.

"Well... Mommy needs a lot of room for the baby," Jackie said. "And we were thinking that maybe you'd like to have a big boy room! We could decorate it however you want it, and get your own bed..."

"Would you stay in there with me?" he asked.

"Um... well, no, not once the baby's born." Sympathy flashed across her face.

Davey looked at his plate.

"What do you think, honey?" Jackie asked him.

"I don't know. Maybe."

"For God's sake, Jackie, the kid's stuck to you like glue," Red commented. "I can't think of any reason why anybody would want to be with the loud one 24/7." A small smile on his face let Jackie know that he was joking.

"Thanks, Mr. Forman," Jackie said sarcastically and smiled. She turned back to her son. "So you'll try it, baby?"

"Maybe," Davey said, eating another bite of the chicken.

"Well, then. That's settled." Kitty smiled as she got up to the refrigerator to get some ketchup. Upon doing so, she tripped and nearly fell, causing Jackie to choke on the water she was drinking.

"Oh my God, Mrs. Forman," Jackie said once she could breathe again. "That reminded me of that one night when Luke was over last year!"

Kitty laughed. "Oh dear, I had quite a spill that night!"

Hyde narrowed his eyes. "Who's Luke?"

"My ex boyfriend," Jackie explained. "We dated for a couple months."

Hyde frowned. "Oh."

"I'll never forget when Eric first met him," Red shared. "He freaked out and told us all that his name should have been named Luke."

Jackie giggled. "I was gonna kill him. Just because of stupid Star Wars."

"He would probably hurt you if he heard you say that," Kitty laughed.

"Eric?" Jackie waved a hand in front of her face. "Since when could Eric hurt anybody?" She laughed again as the door opened.

"Speak of the devil." Jackie grinned.

"I thought you were the devil?" Eric asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Oh my God, a baby boy!" Kitty exclaimed and got up to hug her son and daughter-in-law.

"Donna, make sure that kid /never/ sees Star Wars," Hyde says.

Eric gasps. "She would never do such a thing!"

They all rolled their eyes and laughed.

Donna smiled and looked over at Jackie and Hyde, noting that they were next to each other. What Davey had told her a while ago was still fresh in her mind, although she hadn't told Eric... yet.

"Mommy," Davey said, tugging on Jackie's hand.

She looked at him. "What, babe?"

"When is Aunt Donna having her baby?" he asked. "I want someone to play with."

"A couple months, honey." She laughed. "And you couldn't play with him right away; he'll just be a baby."

Davey frowned. "Oh."

"You'll make plenty of friends this year anyway," Jackie said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You start school!"

"Oh yeah!" Eric exclaimed. "I forgot! And his birthday's next month, too."

"Yeah, the twelfth." Jackie smiled at Davey.

Hyde frowned at the fact that Eric knew more about Davey than he did. This kid did call him 'Dad', right?

"I'm gonna be this much!" Davey held up one hand.

"I know, Dave," Eric said, smiling at the kid.

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A/N: Alright, I know; real schizophrenic way to end a chapter, Farewell. But, oh well... I was out of ideas for the rest of the chapter! Thanks for the reviews and keep them coming! 


	5. Closer To You

The gang all sat in the basement, chatting.

"So, baby," Jackie said as she sat with Davey on her lap on the basement couch. "What would you like your room decorated like?"

"I never said I wanted the room yet," Davey said quietly.

Jackie frowned. She loved her son, but there was no way that she, Davey, and the baby could share a room.

"Davey, I'm fully prepared to let go of my Star Wars bedroom set to give to you," Eric said quickly, as though struggling to get it out. "Well... maybe."

Davey considered the thought until Jackie and Hyde both yelled, "No!"

"Forman, the kid needs /nothing/ to do with Star Wars," Hyde told Eric.

Eric crossed his arms and pouted in his chair. Donna just laughed. "Sometimes I can't believe I'm with you," she told him.

"I might be too scared to sleep alone," Davey reminded his mother.

"I know, honey... but it's getting really hard, babe." Jackie frowned as she put a hand on Davey's shoulder. "It'll get even harder once the baby comes, too. And we're running out of space... we're intruding on the Formans."

"My mom would kill you if she heard you say that," Eric commented. "She loves the company. In fact, I think she'd go crazy if it were just Red and herself."

"I don't care," Jackie said. "I feel horrible. It's been so many years now, and as much as I consider this my home right now, it's not /mine/."

"Maybe you should try and find your own apartment for you and Davey," Donna offered, taking a slight glance at Hyde.

"Oh yeah? With what money?" Jackie rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Jackie, just... don't worry about it. It's not like you're gonna grow old here," Eric said.

"Fine. Whatever." Jackie gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Jackie..." Donna looked unsure. "Don't you think that you and Hyde... should tell Eric what Davey told me?" She paused. "I mean, me and Davey know."

Jackie opened her mouth in protest until Eric spoke up. "Lemme guess... they're back together, /again/?"

Hyde looked around the room, unsure of what to say, until he came to a decision. "You know, what the hell. Yeah, we are. I guess."

Jackie smiled. "And don't even start to say 'I told you so', because Donna already did that."

"How did Donna know?" Hyde asked.

"Davey... slipped," Jackie said, remembering the popsicle bribe. "You know what, it doesn't matter. As long as..." She paused and blushed. "As long as I've got you and Davey," She leaned over the couch and kissed him, hard on the lips. Once they broke apart, she finished her sentence. "I'm alright."

Donna and Eric clapped jokingly as Davey just watched in awe again.

"I knew it," Eric said. "Now, who do we have to thank for this?" Everybody looked around the room in confusion. Eric looked discouraged. "Um, me! I'm the one who proposed to Donna, the one who asked Hyde to be his best man!"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Even you had your doubts about him, Eric. Remember that one night we talked about it?"

Hyde ignored them. He didn't want to hear about how everybody thought he was gonna hurt Jackie again. He had heard it all before, anyway.

They all continued talking until Davey started getting cranky. Jackie took him up to bed and tucked him in before going back downstairs and finding that Eric and Donna had left.

"How come they left?" Jackie asked once she sat down. "It's barely ten."

Hyde shrugged. "I don't know."

"Okay." She turned to face him, as he was on his chair and she was on the couch. "What did you think of... Eric's reaction?"

"It was fine?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Well, what I mean is... do you think you wanna tell Mr. and Mrs. Forman? Do you... care?" Jackie wondered out loud.

"Don't matter to me," Hyde just said.

Jackie sighed. "This is just like when we were teenagers." She gave a little laugh.

Hyde just smiled. "Nothing ever changes around here, doll." They leaned in and started making out.

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A few weeks had past, and now it was night. Jackie had put Davey to bed a few hours ago and was now heading upstairs to sleep. She laid in bed, thinking over some things that had happened the past day, and things to come in the next week; until suddenly, she felt a little flutter in her stomach.

"Oh my God!" she whispered, and quietly got out of bed and ran downstairs. Hyde was still watching TV on the couch, but turned around upon hearing Jackie's footsteps.

He started, "Jackie, what's wr-"

"Steven!" she interrupted. She grabbed his hand and put it on her twenty week old bump, waiting for another kick. Sure enough, she felt another flutter. "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah... wow." Hyde looked impressed as he waited for another one. When it didn't happen, he took his hand off and looked at her.

"Can you believe it!" Jackie said, throwing her arms around Hyde as she felt a tear or two form in her eyes. "I'm just so glad you're here this time, Steven. I don't have to be scared anymore. At least, I don't think I do." She looked up at him and smiled.

"No, Jackie," Hyde said, arms around her waist, "you don't."

She smiled widely and closed her eyes while hugging him.

"I can't believe I missed all of this with Dave," Hyde admitted.

"Sometimes he was just too funny." Jackie laughed, thinking of some of the times when Davey was younger.

0000000000FLASHBACK00000000000

Jackie stood in the kitchen with Eric, Donna, and Fez nearby, with one-year old Davey standing on the table. Of course, normally Red wouldn't allow Davey to stand "where he eats," but since Red wasn't in here, he wouldn't have to know.

"Come on, Davey," Jackie said, smiling. "Dance! Remember when you did that this morning?"

Davey just smiled and picked up a paper bag that was sitting next to him on the table and started crinkling it up, which made him laugh.

"No, Dave." Eric grinned at the little boy. "Grandma Kitty uses those."

Fez stood up. "Come on, Davey! Dance!" He walked to Davey, who was still on the table.

"Come on," Fez said again. "It's fun to stay at theY-M-C-A!" He moved his arms up and down, in the shape of the letters.

Davey grinned at Fez doing this, which only encouraged Fez to do more.

"Y-M-C-A!" Fez shouted again, repeating his previous motions.

Davey started clapping and threw his arms up in the air in the shape of a 'Y,' causing the whole group to crack up.

"Really, Fez?" Donna asked while laughing. "The Village People? God forbid Hyde were here," she added, then regretted it after looking at Jackie's expression.

"Oh, come on, Donna. Who doesn't love the Village People?" Fez smiled.

Everybody in the room except for Fez and Davey raised their hands.

"Well, buddy," Fez said, and sighed. "I guess it's just you and me."

"No way!" Jackie swooped in and picked Davey up. "It's just you. No way is my baby liking the Village People." She smiled at her baby. "Right, Davey?"

Davey just laughed and nodded his head a little bit.

0000000000END FLASHBACK00000000000

"The Village People?" Hyde shook his head in disgust. "Remind me to punch him next time he rolls around."

Jackie laughed in response. "Thank God that Davey forgot all about that."

Jackie smiled and then realized that Hyde was still holding her close to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder. "What will the Formans think? Are they gonna be happy, surprised? ...mad?"

He rubbed her back reassuringly. "Don't worry about it, Jacks."

Jackie yawned and pulled away from him. "I'm really tired... and I showed you what I wanted to, so I think I'll go to bed."

"Okay," Hyde replied.

"I..." Jackie nervously toyed with a piece of her hair while standing in front of Hyde. "I... I love you. Goodnight." She leaned in and kissed him goodnight.

"Night, Jacks," Hyde said as she walked up the stairs.  
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The next day in the living room...

"I can't believe that Donna is 26 weeks!" Kitty exclaimed while sitting on the couch. "I swear, three grandchildren! It's like winning the lottery!"

"Three more kids to clutter up my basement? That's your idea of a lottery?" Red asked after turning the page to the paper.

"Oh, Red. You'll love them once they get here. You already love Davey." Kitty smiled warmly at Red.

Red just scoffed and went back to reading the paper. It was true; Red adored that little boy... when nobody watched. He liked that Davey enjoyed fishing sometimes, which was a lot more than he could say for Eric when he was younger.

Meanwhile, Hyde and Eric were at the Hub while Donna and Jackie were shopping; looking at all of the baby supplies.

"How's Donna been doing?" Hyde asked Eric.

"She's been... good. It's me I'm worried about. I'm the one who has to get up at 3:00 AM to get Donna her favorite ice cream, I'm the one who has to do most of the housework, and I'm the one who has to take out the heavy trash now!" Eric exclaimed.

Hyde gave him a weird look. "Heavy?"

Eric blinked. "Shut up," he muttered.

"Jackie told me she loves me yesterday," Hyde said randomly.

"She did? Don't you think she's... never mind. She couldn't be moving too fast... not if she's pregnant." Eric laughed.

"Yeah, whatever, Garbage Boy," Hyde said.

Eric rolled his eyes. "Do you... love her? And be serious, like, no zen crap," he said seriously.

Hyde shrugged. "I... I don't know. I mean, I honestly..." Hyde paused. "I thought about her every day when I was in Chicago." His face suddenly became serious. "And I swear, if you tell anybody about that at all, I will-"

"No worries, man," Eric said. "You've been able to trust me since we were in kindergarten."

Hyde nodded in agreement and then turned his attention to the door, where Donna, Jackie, and Davey were entering.

Donna walked over to the table where Eric and Hyde were sitting. Instantly, Eric put a protective arm behind her waist.

Hyde stood up to talk to Jackie, but Davey beat him to the chase. "Mommy, can I get french fries?" Davey asked.

"Sure, babe. Nothing else, though; Mommy barely has any money with her." Jackie walked up to the counter and paid for Davey's food.

Once they got the fries, they sat down with Eric, Donna, and Hyde.

Eric and Donna were talking about something, until Eric turned to Hyde. "Hey, remember the circles?"

"Hell yeah," Hyde said, smiling. "When's the last time you had one of those?"

"None since you left. You were the only one who brought the... 'circle stuff,'" Eric commented while using air quotes and smiled. "Not saying I want to, but I don't know. It brings back good memories."

"I still have circles sometimes," Hyde admitted. "Only they're pretty much one sided. Just me."

Jackie hit his arm. "Steven!" she said. "You're still doing that?"

"Only sometimes," Hyde said, seeing if she would let it go.

"What's a circle?" Davey asked.

"A... a shape!" Jackie smiled. "Like... this!" She drew one on a napkin.

"Oh... I knew that," Davey said, and went back to eating his fries.

Donna randomly winced in pain, causing everybody to look at her.

"Sorry, guys," she said. "This guy's been kicking nonstop lately... it hurts."

"Jackie felt the baby last night," Hyde told Donna.

"Yeah, I know, she told me." Donna smiled. "It's nice at first, but then... ow!" She winced again.

Davey looked over in curiosity. Donna noticed and took his hand, placing it over her bump.

"Whoa!" he said, amazed at the feel. He turned to Jackie. "That happened to you yesterday?"

"Not as big," Jackie admitted as she put her hand in Hyde's. "Just a small one."

"God," Eric said, "I can't believe that... this is all happening." He smiled.

"Eric can't wait to be a dad." Donna grinned and took Eric's hand.

Jackie took this moment to think. Did Hyde really want to be a dad... again? Did he like it to begin with? Would he stay at the Formans? Would she ever get enough money to move out? All the questions made her feel overwhelmed.

Hyde noticed. "Jackie... what's wrong, doll?"

"Nothing," Jackie lied. "You know, it's getting to be kind of late. Mrs. Forman probably wants us back by six anyways. So... should we leave?"

"Um," Eric looked around the room, puzzled. "Jackie, it's four. Not six."

"Yeah, but..." Jackie thought for a minute. "I wanted to help her."

Everybody at the table looked at her in shock, even Davey.

"Don't give me that look!" she yelled at everybody, then took Davey's hand and stood up. "Come on, let's go."  
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After dinner, Jackie had done a lot of thinking about what her life may be life after the baby. Of course, she considered the worst, and her story was sounding more and more believable to her by the second.

She figured that Hyde would leave after the birth so he wouldn't feel guilty, and that Davey would hate the baby. The two of them would be horrible enemies, and wouldn't have a father to set them straight. The Formans would finally decide to kick her out of their house, so she had to live on the street, since Donna and Eric had no room once the baby was born. Jackie and the kids would wind up being forced to live a life of crime to at least live in a prison where they got food and shelter. Yeah, that's the way Jackie saw it.

She walked out of the kitchen and into the basement to sit on the couch. That was her spot to think; her spot to rest. Her mind was spinning at her rapid, unkind thoughts, and she wasn't really sure what to believe or expect. Although she knew it was ridiculous to think anything as absurd as what she had come up with, she couldn't be set to expect anything anymore.

Everybody in the household knew something was wrong, because she barely talked throughout dinner, which was definitely odd for Jackie. She noticed that they all were trying to get her to talk, but she only said few words and then left.

As she sat on the couch, she surprisingly felt tears start to roll down her face. "Stupid hormones," she muttered as she wiped them away. More came, and one by one, Jackie started to allow them to fall down. She sniffed and felt her shoulders start shaking, in a sobbing matter, though she was still trying to be quiet.

Suddenly, she felt two arms being thrown around her neck. "What's wrong, Mommy?"

Jackie just shook her head and hugged her son. "We need to go, baby. We have to go." She frowned as tears fell faster.

"What do you mean?" Davey asked, upset.

"We can't stay here, honey." She sniffed and pushed his hair back. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Davey was confused, so Jackie decided to explain a little more. "We can't get hurt again, Davey. I won't let it happen. I can't let it happen," she whispered. "Let's pack our stuff."

By then, Davey had started crying, too. They managed to sneak upstairs to pack their stuff until a thought hit Jackie: where were they going to stay? She ignored the thought and continued throwing clothes in a bag until she heard a knock on the door.

"Um." Jackie slid her bag under the bed. "Come in!"

The door opened, revealing Hyde. Once he noticed that she and Davey were crying, he ran over. "What's wrong?" Then he noticed Davey's bag. "Why... why does he have a bag?"

Jackie shook her head, realizing that she had forgotten to hide it. "Steven... I-"

Hyde cut her off by kissing her. "You can't leave," he said once they had stopped.

Jackie had started to ask how he knew, until he cut her off again.

"You can't leave, ever. Because... I love you, Jackie. You too, Dave." He nodded toward his son.

Jackie stared at him, wide-eyed. "Steven... I love you, too." She kissed him, reminding herself of when they were younger. "But how-"

"Did I know?" Hyde asked, and she nodded. "I could tell. It was obvious."

Jackie stared at him again. "You haven't said that to me since... well, since we were kids."

Hyde just looked at the wall in embarrassment. "I guess."

"I love you, too, Daddy," a voice behind them said.

Hyde smiled at Davey and sat on the bed. "You can't leave," he repeated softly. "Don't go."

"I... I was overreacting," Jackie admitted and picked Davey up. "And I'm sorry I dragged you into it, babe," she said to her son.

"It's okay." He hid his face in her shoulder.

She smiled at him and sat on the bed while looking at Hyde. "I couldn't leave, Steven; I wouldn't. I know that deep down, I guess."

"Okay." Hyde shrugged as though it didn't matter at all. "Whatever."

Jackie laughed. "What, you break the zen for the 'I love you,' but now it's suddenly full on?"

Hyde just laughed and ignored what she said.

Jackie smiled at him. "I know you too well, huh?"

Hyde nodded and smiled in agreement, looking at Davey over Jackie's shoulder. By now, he had fallen asleep. Jackie lightly set him down on the bed, propped up on a pillow, and kissed him before turning back to Hyde.

"I really... don't know how we got here. How you're here right now. But I'm done with the insecurities, I swear. It's just tough, though. You build a wall; you can't break it down right away. You of all people should know that. I've never gotten your walls down." Jackie lightly touched his shoulder.

"No," Hyde said. "You have gotten them down. I'm pretty different now." He shrugged.

Jackie laughed at his nonchalance. "Oh my God, Steven," she said while moving closer to him. "I love you." Her lips met his once again, but silently, so they wouldn't disturb Davey's sleep. 


	6. What Can I Say

A/N: Hey guys, sorry I've been rushing things with this story, but what can I say? I'm a rusher. I get excited for the good parts. Anyway, this story isn't my best either way. I just really want to get near the end so by chapter I'll probably skip by a few weeks or so.  
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A month later...

Jackie had just gone to a doctor appointment to check up on the baby, along with Hyde. Obviously, she had the option of finding out the gender of the baby, but of course she passed it up.

"About fifteen more weeks, Ms. Burkhart," the doctor said.

"I know." Jackie grinned. "I'm really excited."

"The baby looks healthy," the doctor added. "Nothing to worry about."

Once the appointment was over, Jackie and Hyde went back to the Forman household.

Jackie and Hyde took a seat at the kitchen table, with Davey on Jackie's lap. Jackie was telling Kitty about the appointment.

"Mom, I can't wait," Jackie gushed to Kitty (she and Hyde both started calling her that... it definitely made Kitty ecstatic). "Me and Donna's kids will be the same age... oh my God! They'll be best friends!" She smiled and looked at Hyde.

"Two more grandchildren!" Kitty smiled widely while taking a pan out of the cupboard. "It'll be nice to have a baby around the house. There hasn't been one since little Davey." She smiled at the little boy.

"I want a brother," Davey said, smiling.

"Even if it's a girl, you'll still have Aunt Donna and Uncle Eric's boy," Jackie told Davey.

"Did you know that they settled on a name?" Kitty asked them. "Daniel Matthew. Daniel Matthew Forman." She grinned at the sound of the name.

"That's cute!" Jackie exclaimed. "That's really cute," she repeated.

"Sounds like the kind of name Forman would pick out," Hyde simply said.

"Have you two thought about names?" Kitty asked them.

"I'm letting Jackie do the picking," Hyde said, leaning back in his chair. "I don't care, as long as it's not a pansy name."

"I can't settle on anything," Jackie admitted. "I mean, there's so many names! I'd rather just let it hit me whenever it does."

"Give it a cool name!" Davey exclaimed, and then looked at his mother's stomach because he could feel the baby kick. "Man, why does it always do that?"

"Believe me, it's not you that it's happening to," Jackie commented, placing a hand on her tummy.

"Now Jackie, tomorrow I have a church meeting at two thirty and I'd like you to come with me. Donna, too," Kitty said.

"Church? Why would we go to a meeting at church?" Jackie asked.

"Well... never mind that. I felt that you two should go and get... inspired!" Kitty moved her hands in a gesture that showed excitement.

"Fine," Jackie said. "I'll go."

"Yay!" Kitty clapped her hands excitedly. "Now let me just call Donna."  
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Now it was the next day. By eight o'clock, Davey, of course, was waking Jackie.

"Mommy!" he said, shaking her shoulders a little bit.

Jackie groaned. "Baby... give me a few more minutes, okay?"

"Please get up?" he asked, sticking his face in front of hers.

"Ugh," she mumbled, and then sat up. "I barely get any sleep between the baby kicking and you getting me up early."

Davey just smiled. Jackie leaned over and hugged him. "I love you, babe."

"Love you too, Mommy." He jumped out of bed and ran downstairs.

Jackie followed him, only walking a bit slower.

"Jackie!" Kitty called, and Jackie quickened up a bit.

"Yeah?"

"Don't forget... church today!"

Jackie groaned. She really didn't feel like going to this meeting, but she knew she had to, or else she'd feel totally guilty.

After breakfast, Jackie took a shower and got ready.

Once she was done, she met Kitty in the living room.

"But I wanna go, Grandma Kitty!" Davey was saying.

"Oh, I know, sweetie, but your mommy and I have some things to do." Kitty said, placing a hand on her grandson's shoulder.

"You can spend some time with your daddy, babe," Jackie put in.

Hyde walked in once Jackie said this. "What?"

"Me and Mom have to go to some church meeting," Jackie said.

Hyde narrowed his eyes. "Oh... okay." He paused. "So I'm watching Davey then?"

"Yup." Jackie smiled.

"Alright."

"Why do you have to go?" Davey asked.

"Really, Jackie," Hyde commented, "the kid has seperation anxiety issues. He can't stand to be away from you."

"My baby's just fine," she said, kissing Davey. "Bye, baby."

Davey frowned. "Bye."

"You two have fun, okay?" She turned to Hyde. "Bye, Steven." She kissed him and walked out the door with Kitty.

"I'm just so happy that you and Steven are together again," Kitty beamed.

"Me too," Jackie agreed.

"Now, we have to pick up Donna at she and Eric's house," Kitty said.

They got in the car and started driving. Kitty giggled nervously.

"What's so funny?" Jackie asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Just..." She shrugged.

Jackie just figured she had too much Kahlua or something, so she ignored her.

They got to Donna's in a rush, and quickly ran in the front door to find Eric watching TV.

"Eric!" Kitty exclaimed. "Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I don't start until next month, Mom," Eric said. "I'm working at a school and it's summer break."

"Oh... right." Kitty sounded flustered. "Where's Donna?"

"Upstairs. Why?"

Kitty and Jackie took off upstairs before answering Eric. They found Donna in she and Eric's bedroom, putting on her wedding ring.

"Donna!" Kitty called. "We have to go!"

"Oh, I know!" Donna said. "Sorry. I was just getting ready."

Jackie looked her over. "I can see that. You can't honestly say you're ready now, can you?"

"Jackie!" Kitty scolded. "She looks perfectly fine. Let's go." They all walked out the door, down the stairs, and into the car once Donna kissed Eric goodbye.

"Now, girls, I'm going to drive," Kitty informed them.

"Why?" Jackie asked. "I know how to get to the church."

"Because... we're going to a different one."

They just sat in silence for the next fifteen minutes until they realized that Kitty had pulled into a fancy restaurant. "Don't ask me any questions, girls," she said, smiling.

They walked into the banquet room to find all of their female friends drinking punch among pink and blue decorations.

"Happy... baby shower!" Fez shouted.

"Fez?" Jackie asked in disbelief. "I thought baby showers were for girls?"

"Oh shut up, you specific person, you. Come here," he said, motioning him to come hug him. She did so, then Donna did.

"Oh my God!" Donna and Jackie said, smiling.

Donna ran up to Kitty. "Thank you so much," she said, hugging her.

"Oh, you're very welcome, Donna."

Jackie walked over and thanked Kitty also.

"Anything for you girls," Kitty said as she noticed Betsy approaching behind them.

"Bets!" Jackie cried as she turned around.

She, Donna, and Kitty took turns hugging the young brunette.

"How did you get here, Betsy?" Donna asked.

"My daddy dropped me off here," she explained. "He was going to Grandma's house to see Uncle Hyde and Uncle Eric."

"I think Eric's staying home," Donna said. "Hyde should be there though, right Jackie?"

Jackie just nodded.  
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Back at the Forman house...

Hyde and Davey had the TV on, but Davey was barely watching. Instead, he kept glancing at his father to see if he would say anything. When he realized that Hyde probably wouldn't talk, Davey decided to speak himself.

"Do you have a job?"

Hyde looked startled. "Um... no. Not anymore." He looked back at the TV (A/N: I know I put that he worked at the record store but I forgot that it closed :/).

"Isn't that bad?" Davey asked.

"Sure."

"What time is my mommy coming back?"

"In a couple hours."

"What do you-"

"My God, Davey, do you ever stop?" Hyde asked, causing Davey to frown. "You're just like your mother," Hyde said, laughing a little bit.

"Do you want the baby to be a boy or a girl?" Davey asked.

Hyde shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. What do you want?"

"A brother." Davey grinned, then paused. "I don't wanna switch rooms, though."

"Are you like, scared or what?" Hyde asked.

"Sometimes. I just like to be by my mommy when I sleep."

"Eh, you'll get over it." Hyde shrugged and turned back to the TV.

"I'm just glad she doesn't really cry a lot anymore," Davey said.

"When did she stop?" Hyde asked curiously.

"I don't know. After you got here." Davey smiled as though he knew something.

"Oh." Hyde tried to not smile. Then, the door opened, revealing Kelso.

"Uncle Michael!" Davey cried, jumping up to hug one of his mother's best friends.

"Hey, Dave!" Kelso grinned.

"Where's Betsy?" Davey asked, slightly puzzled.

"She's at the baby shower," Kelso explained.

"Shower?" Davey looked confused.

Hyde stepped in. "See, a baby shower is an excuse for all these girls to get together in a room filled with pink and blue baby toys for free cake and spiked punch."

"And presents," Kelso put in.

"Yeah," Hyde agreed. "It's disgusting."

"Oh, okay." Davey wrinkled his nose. "Is that where Grandma, Mommy, and Aunt Donna went?"

"Yeah," Hyde confirmed.  
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Once the baby shower was over and Jackie and Donna had sent their hugs around to everybody who attended, they took the chance to thank Kitty again on the way home. Betsy was also along.

"It really meant a lot," Donna said.

"Yeah. Thanks again, Mom." Jackie smiled.

"Nothing less for another grandchild," Kitty said, smiling. "And anything for two."

Donna smiled. "Yeah, and in a good two months..." She trailed off and patted her bump, which was now pretty big.

"I can't wait!" Kitty squealed excitedly. "And for yours too, Jackie! Oh, I hope I have a girl granddaughter with you!" She patted Jackie's knee.

"Oh my God, a girl!" Jackie cried, thinking of it excitedly. "Just think, Donna. Our kids could totally fall in love! As long as your baby's not ugly, and takes more after your manliness as opposed to Eric's girliness."

"My baby won't be ugly," Donna said. "And watch it, Jackie! I'm not manly, I'm wearing freaking pink!"

"It's orange," Jackie pointed out.

"Well, whatever." Donna sighed.

"You two, quick bickering," Kitty ordered and laughed. "Grandmother of three! And four, if you count little Betsy!" She patted Betsy on the head.

A half hour later, the girls had dropped Donna off at her house, and decided to go straight back to the Forman household to avoid a long visit over there.

"Oh, Jackie." Kitty happily sighed as they walked in the door. "All the presents. Baby stuff... oh, I can't wait for this again!"

"Davey, look, it's your mom!" Kelso pointed to Jackie.

"Mommy!" Davey ran up to his mother. She hugged him, then Kelso came to her, and she hugged him, too. Davey ran to his grandmother and hugged her tightly, making her very happy. Betsy, of course, ran to her father.

"Where's Steven?" Jackie asked Kelso.

"He should be..." He turned around to see Hyde in the doorway, raising his eyebrows at them.

"Have fun?" Hyde asked as Jackie headed towards him, kissing him lightly on the lips.

"Yeah." She smiled. "You knew about this?"

"Of course I did." He took her into his arms. "And then this guy showed up." He used a free hand to point at Kelso, who was holding a six year old Betsy.

"You have fun, baby?" Kelso asked his daughter, and she nodded in response.

Betsy got down from her father and ran off with Davey in the backyard.

"Oh, the girls loved it," Kitty said, grinning.

"I bet," Kelso said. "I know how much Jackie likes opening up presents. And Donna always likes social gatherings." He smiled widely.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool," Donna said.

Jackie grinned up at Hyde. "Just wait until you see all of the stuff we got!"

"Oh boy." Hyde sighed. 


	7. Life On A Chain

A few weeks later, Davey's fifth birthday arrived. The Formans were having a little party for him at the house.

Jackie and Kitty were rushing around like mad, trying to get everything situated and clean. Sure, it was a small guest list, but Kitty was always one to impress.

After hours of dusting, vacuuming, and putting up tables outside, Jackie collapsed on the couch as gently as she could. "I swear to God, I will never look at a mop the same way."

"And we had to avoid cleaners, too!" Kitty exclaimed as she joined her on the couch. "I don't want anything disturbing the baby."

"Davey!" Jackie called, and then sighed. "God, all of this, and now I can't find the kid."

Suddenly, Davey came running down the stairs. "I'm five," he announced proudly.

"I know, baby." Jackie smiled. "But not until 4:21."

"Oh." Davey looked around aimlessly. "When is everyone getting here?"

"Soon enough," Red commented, walking in through the kitchen door.

"Oh, Red. Promise me you won't have another episode this year," Kitty said.

Red snorted. "I'm not promising anything. That dumbass broke our television!"

"Honey, that was Michael," Kitty said gently.

"I know," Red said. "Thus the dumbass!"

"Somebody talking about me?" Kelso asked, walking downstairs.

Davey ran towards him. "Hi, Uncle Michael." He stood there, as if waiting for something.

"Uh... hi, Davey." Kelso stood there awkwardly, wondering what he was supposed to do.

"Do you have... to say something to me?" Davey asked.

"Um..." Kelso trailed off, breaking eye contact. "Okay, how did you find out about the rocket?" he asked roughly.

"Rocket?" Everybody in the room looked towards him.

"I meant that it's my birthday," Davey reminded him.

"Oh, yeah! Happy birthday!" Kelso shouted. "What time's the-"

Red interrupted him. "Come join me in the kitchen; I'd love to hear about this rocket."

"Aw, man." Kelso followed him into the other room.

"What time does the party start?" Davey asked, tugging on his mother's shirt.

"It starts at three, baby," Jackie said, and pulled his hands off. "Don't do that; you'll stretch the fabric."

Davey sighed and sat on the couch. "This is gonna take forever."

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A few hours later, the party was full on, with friends and family roaming the house.

Davey was running around with a few friends, Red and Kitty were socializing with a few friends, and Eric, Donna, Jackie, Hyde, Kelso, and Fez were all sitting together in the living room.

"I can't believe he starts kindergarten in a week," Jackie said while shaking her head. "God, he'll be out of elementary before I know it."

"You'll still have that one," Donna commented, pointing to Jackie's stomach.

"Yeah, I guess." Jackie turned to Hyde. "You'd /better/ help me." He raised his eyebrows at her and turned back to the rest of the group.

"Same goes here," Donna said, pointing to Eric, who gave her a doubtful look. "I can't just count on Jackie because she'll have a baby, too. And I barely know what to expect."

"I shouldn't know what to expect," Jackie said. "I mean, I'm gonna be 24 and I'm already having my second kid."

"I'm just glad I'm not here for the whole thing this time," Kelso said.

"Oh, I know!" Fez agreed. "Jackie was such a bitch last time. Luckily, whenever we've seen her, she's been in a good mood."

"Excuse me, Fez?" Jackie asked.

"Oopsie." Fez ran out of the room.  
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One week later...

Donna and Jackie were packing Davey up together, because it was his first day of school.

"You excited, Dave?" Donna asked, putting a backpack on his shoulders.

"I guess." He pouted a little.

"What's wrong, babe?" Jackie asked while tying one of his shoes.

"I'm scared a little." He frowned at his shoes. "Can you and Aunt Donna come with me?"

"I'm sorry, but we can't go in with you, honey," Donna said, now placing a folder in his backpack.

"We're not allowed," Jackie added, then paused. "Do you wanna take the school bus? Or should we drive you?"

"I want you guys to drive me," he said, hugging his mother and his aunt.

"Alright, honey. But everything will be okay. You can make new friends and stuff." Jackie smiled at him, ruffled his hair, and stood up. "Now we've gotta get going, babe."

Davey frowned again. "Okay." He looked around. "Where's Daddy?"

Jackie thought for a minute. "He must still be in bed. Come on, let's get him up really quick and you can say bye." She pulled him to the basement, causing Donna to shake her head. "I can't believe she's gonna try and wake Hyde up."

They went to the basement and went in Hyde's bedroom, and sure enough, he was still sleeping. Jackie let go of Davey's hand and walked over to Hyde.

"Steven," she whispered, gently placing a hand on his back. "Your son wants to tell you bye before he goes to school."

Hyde moved a little, wondering if he just heard the words he never thought he'd hear. "Mm... okay." He rolled over and sat up. "Bye, Davey," he said while ruffling his son's hair.

"Bye, Daddy," Davey said, and stopped for a second. "Nobody will make fun of me, will they?"

"Hell no." Hyde laughed. "Not my kid."

Jackie smiled. "I'll be right back," she whispered in Hyde's ear. "Bye." She kissed him and went upstairs with Davey.

She and Donna quickly went to the car with Davey and hurried up, to make sure that they weren't late.

Upon reaching the school, Jackie stared at it. "I remember when I went here," she said.

"You went here, too?" Davey asked.

"Yeah, so did I; and your daddy, Uncle Eric, Uncle Kelso, and Uncle Fez," Donna said.

"Wow." Davey looked at the school. "Now at least I'll know that you guys all went here, too."

"I know, baby." Jackie leaned over and kissed his head. "Come on, let's go in." They all started walking in.

They made it to Davey's classroom, and once Jackie signed him in, they looked at the classroom.

"Are you ready, babe?" Jackie asked him.

"For what?"

"For me and Aunt Donna to go. We have to right now."

Davey frowned, so Jackie leaned down to hug him. He didn't let go when she tried to pull back.

"Honey," Jackie paused, looking at her scared son. "It's gonna be okay. It'll be time to go home before you know it. Just remember, your bus is number 5."

"I know Mommy, I'm just-"

He was cut off by a gasp from Donna. "Jackie..." she muttered quietly. "I think... I'm pretty sure my water just broke."

"Oh my God." Jackie paused, wondering what to do. "Baby, we have to go. Aunt Donna's gonna have her baby!"

"Can I go?" he pleaded.

"I'm sorry, baby. It's your first day. I'm sorry, but we have to go!" She kissed him quickly and gave him a hug before running out with Donna.

They got to the car, and Jackie quickly started heading toward the hospital. "Wow, it's times like these when I wish they had phones that you can take anywhere," she muttered.

"It's been 37 weeks!" Donna exclaimed. "I thought it had to be forty!"

"It can be before that, too. Before 37, though, it's considered premature." Jackie stopped at a stop sign, causing Donna to panic.

"Jackie, hurry!" Donna cried, and then gasped. "What about Eric?"

"I'll call once we get there," Jackie assured her.

------------------------

Ten minutes later, Donna was set in a room, and Jackie had just called Eric. On the second ring, he picked up. "Hello?"

"Eric, it's Jackie," she said frantically. "Donna's here at the hospital. You have to get here quick, her water broke!"

"W-w-what's that?" Eric asked nervously.

"It means that the baby's coming!" Jackie yelled. "Call Steven and make sure he comes, too!"

"Okay!" Eric said, and quickly hung up.

Jackie ran to the nurse's station. A woman at the desk looked up at her. "Can I help you?"

"Um, yes. Is Kitty Forman here?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah, she's with a patient," the woman said.

"Can you please tell her when you first see her... that Jackie said that Donna's in labor? And she's in room 25B!"

"Um... sure." The nurse looked around and spotted Kitty coming out of a room.

Jackie dashed towards her. "Donna's in labor!"

"What?!" Kitty started pacing. "Where is she?"

Jackie led her to the room, where Eric was now waiting and consoling Donna.

"What do we do?" he asked frantically.

Kitty explained everything. "And make sure you don't faint, sweetie!" she added and smiled at Eric.  
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A few hours later...

"It's a boy!" the doctor said, followed by the sounds of crying.

"Yeah, we knew that," Donna muttered, happy that it all was over with.

Eric was inspecting his hand to make sure that the bones were all still in tact. "I have a son," he said in amazement.

"I have two grandchildren!" Kitty exclaimed.

Once the baby was all cleaned up and the name certificate (A/N: ?) was filled out, everybody took turns holding the baby.

Eric took the most pride in it, mostly because Donna was nearly passed out. "Daniel, I'm your daddy," he said happily, holding the little baby, who was still crying.

Red walked over and put a hand on his son's shoulder. "I..." He trailed off in uncertainty, but then confidently raised his tone once again. "I'm proud of you, son," he said while smiling. "And... make sure that kid doesn't grow up to be a wimpy dumbass."

Eric's happy moment quickly shifted. "'Course not, Dad."

"Fatherhood... is a gift. But it comes with its own price," Red reminded, shaking a finger.

"I believe it," Eric said, then looked back at Daniel. "It's like... I've never felt... this /way/ before. It's like..."

"Pride," Red finished. "And it's no shock to me that you've never felt it before, either." He took his hand off of Eric's shoulder and walked away.

Meanwhile, Bob and Midge walked over to Donna's bedside.

"Oh, Donna," Midge gushed, "My own grandson. He's so cute!"

"Brings back memories of the day she was born." Bob sniffed while wiping his eyes with a tissue.

"I wish I could enjoy this moment a little more, you guys," Donna admitted. "But I feel like crap."

"I remember," Midge said. "It's the worst pain ever. It's like a-"

Bob cut her off. "Come on, Midgie. Let's hold Daniel."

Instantly, she forgot. "Oh, Donna. My own grandson!"

Over at the other side of the room sat Jackie and Hyde. Jackie had already held Daniel for a little while, so they had decided to sit on the ledge.

"So, that's gonna be you in a little while," Hyde said.

"Yeah. It's crazy; it seems like just yesterday I had Davey." Jackie sighed as she remembered her son. "He's probably half scared to death right now. He really didn't want me or Donna to leave."

"The kid needs to spend some time away from you," Hyde told her. "He can't be that attached forever."

"Well, maybe soon enough when the attention's not on him as much he will get... unattached." Jackie shrugged.

"What time does he even get out of school?" Hyde asked.

"At twelve thir... oh my God. Steven, what time is it?" Jackie asked frantically.

"Quarter to one."

"Damn it." Jackie ran up and said goodbye to everybody, giving Daniel a small kiss on his little head. "We'll be back after!"

Hyde followed her out. "Don't rush so much. That can't be good."

"I don't care; my son's probably home alone right now, and freaking out. He's five! He can't be home alone!" Jackie yelled, exasperated.

They made their way to the car, and quickly started driving home.

******************

Once they got back home, they found the bus just arriving.

"Thank God," said Jackie, who was out of breath.

Davey had just walked off the bus when he saw his mom and dad standing by the house. He ran up to Jackie and hugged her.

"I hate school," he said. "I hate it, really."

"Babe..." Jackie let go of him. "What's so bad about it?"

"Too many other people. I want you there."

"Okay, honey, but... listen. Aunt Donna had her baby." Jackie smiled.

"Really?" he asked excitedly, forgetting all about school. "Can we go see him?"

"That's what we were gonna do," Hyde put in.

"Let's go!" Davey ran to the car, pulling his parents with him.

Hyde started driving, and they made it back to the hospital in record time.

Davey rushed in, eager to see his new cousin.

"Where's Aunt Donna?" he asked a nurse.

She smiled at him. "Can you tell me her last name, sweetie?"

Jackie rushed up next to him. "I'm sorry," she apologized, smiling. "Donna Forman?"

"She's in 211," the nurse said.

"Thanks." Jackie smiled and walked to the room with Hyde and Davey. "We're back!"

Davey ran over. "Where's the baby?" Before anybody could say anything, he noticed Donna holding Daniel while still in bed.

"Hi, Davey." Donna grinned. "You wanna hold him?"

Davey nodded, so Hyde pulled up a chair for him, and Donna handed Davey the baby.

"He's so little!" Davey exclaimed.

"I know," Donna agreed. "That's how your brother or sister is gonna be, too."

"When is my mommy gonna have the baby?" Davey asked his aunt.

"I don't know." Donna smiled weakly. "It could be any time. But my guess is sometime next month."

"That's not long, is it?" Davey asked, looking at his cousin again.

"No, it's not," Donna said, taking Daniel from Davey again.

Davey ran over to his parents, who were talking to Kitty.

"A month?" he asked his mother.

Jackie narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"The baby comes in about a month?"

Jackie looked surprised. "Oh! Yeah... I guess so." She smiled as Hyde rested a hand on her tummy.

"Believe it or not, I'm actually... I'm actually looking forward to this," Hyde said as he patted her belly.

Jackie smiled up at him, putting her hands over his. "Yeah, well, so am I."

Davey grinned. "Me too." 


	8. Late Morning Lullaby

A/N: So sorry, but I noticed that I made two mistakes in the previous chapter regarding the elementary school. In the episode Halloween, it is revealed that the gang's old elementary school was burned down and abandoned, so I'm just going to say that they fixed it up and now Davey attends it! And the other mistake that I made is that Jackie said that Kelso, Hyde, Eric, Donna, and Fez went to the elementary. Well, Fez couldn't have possibly gone there, because he had arrived in Point Place during high school. So, pardon my mistakes and review!  
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Two weeks had past, and now Davey was getting used to kindergarten. He had made a few friends, and although he didn't totally stop complaining about school, Jackie could tell that he just didn't want to admit that it wasn't horrible. She had known that since he started taking the bus in the morning though, which had started the previous week.

"Grab your backpack, baby!" Jackie called after him as he began to run out the door. Davey ran towards her and took it from her hands, kissing her before running out again.

"Love you!" she called softly after him as the door shut. She sat down on the couch, sighing and recalling how quickly he seemed to be growing up.

"Huh, he likes it now?" Hyde asked, startling Jackie and causing her to gasp.

"You scared me," she said. "And yeah, he does. At least, it seems like he does."

Hyde sat next to her on the couch. "What time are we going to Forman and Donna's?"

"I don't know. Elevenish." She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"You tired?" Hyde asked.

"A little." She sighed. "I had better get ready." She got up and started walking upstairs.

"I'm going up with you," he said, following her up.

Lately, Hyde had been at Jackie's side nonstop, worried about her or the baby.

He reached the top of the stairs as Jackie went in her room.

"I can't believe that it's already been two weeks since Daniel's been born," Jackie commented.

"Yeah. And Mom's been there the whole time practically," Hyde said.

"Oh, I know," Jackie agreed, walking out to the bathroom and started putting on makeup. "I'm surprised you're up."

"I heard Davey get up," Hyde said.

"Really? I always yell at him if he's being loud," Jackie said.

"Okay... well, I heard you and woke up." He smiled sheepishly.

Jackie laughed. "Oops."

Fifteen minutes later, Hyde had convinced Jackie that she looked perfectly fine and that they could go, so they left the house.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Jackie asked.

"Come on, Jackie, it's just Forman and Donna we're talking about. They're basically our family," Hyde told her.

"Wait... are you saying that I don't look okay?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"No, you look beautiful," Hyde said, staring at the road.

Jackie smiled. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Jackie smiled again, then winced as she felt a kick.

"What's wrong?" Hyde asked urgently.

"Nothing, just a kick, don't worry." Jackie looked down at her stomach, which was now very big. "I can't believe I'm 36 weeks now."

"It all seemed to go by pretty fast," Hyde said.

"Yeah, not for me," Jackie said, laughing.

They pulled into the Forman driveway and Hyde got out of the car, helping Jackie out. They walked to the door and Eric opened it before they had a chance to knock.

"Hey!" he said brightly, letting them in.

They did so and sat down on the couch next to Kitty, with Donna on the other side, who was holding Daniel.

"God, Hyde. I feel bad for you," Eric commented, pointing to Jackie. "I remember that stage. I'm just so glad that's over with."

Jackie and Donna hit each of his arms. "That was just two weeks ago!" they yelled in unison.

Eric winced and rubbed his arms. "God, okay!"

Hyde shrugged. "It's almost over. I'm more worried for after."

Jackie smiled. "Don't worry, babe. It's not that bad."

"Says you!" Eric pointed at her and stood up. "You don't remember! Getting up in the night, and-"

"Oh, wow, thanks Forman. Right when I started to feel good about it," Hyde joked as he put an arm around Jackie's waist.

Donna changed the subject. "How has Davey been with school?"

"Things seem to be going pretty good," Jackie said. "He's riding the bus now, so... that's good."

It got quiet for a minute, until Eric broke the silence.

"Man, why is it that now since we've grown up, there's /nothing/ to talk about?"

"Probably since Kelso and Fez are gone," Donna said.

"And we lost the circles," Jackie added.

Eric laughed. "You know, I think we'd still be doing those if Hyde never left."

Hyde smiled. "Haven't had one in a while. Oh well."

"Good." Jackie put her hand on his.  
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

The next morning, they were all eating breakfast at the table with Kitty and Red. It was a Saturday, so Davey was home.

"You know," Kitty said, "you should really get a move on that room if you're gonna do anything."

"Room?" Jackie asked, then remembered. "Oh, you mean Davey's. I know. What do you think about it, babe?"

Davey shrugged. "I guess," he finally said.

"Kindergarten has really made you open minded, right Davey?" Hyde laughed.

Davey just smiled and nodded.

Hyde started again, "You know, I had been thinking about that, and-"

"About what? Kindergarten or the room?" Kitty asked.

"The room," Hyde confirmed. "And anyways... I figured I'd discuss it with Jackie, but... maybe it'd be easier if we... meaning me, Jackie, and Davey... got our own place?"

The room grew silent until Jackie gasped. "Seriously? You'd consider that?"

Hyde nodded. "Well yeah, why not?"

"I... I had thought about that, but I didn't think you'd be into the idea." She put her fork down. "Plus, I wanted to get some input from Mom, Dad, and Davey."

"Well now's your chance." Hyde gestured to the rest of the people at the table, who were staring at them.

"Well I... I think that's a nice idea!" Kitty laughed, and then her face crumpled up. "All my babies are leaving me!"

Red smiled. "I think it sounds great!"

"Of course you do, Red! You never think of how I feel; you just care about your stupid privacy!" Kitty yelled, angrily taking a bite of pancakes.

Red rolled his eyes and turned to Davey. "What do you think?"

"I can't think of what it'd be like to live anywhere else." Davey shrugged. "But I'd try it, I guess."

"Oh my God, Steven!" Jackie grinned, then suddenly thought of something. "We can't just move in right away, though. We have to find a house, and buy furniture, and move everything in, and we couldn't possibly do that before the baby comes."

"So you'll stay here!" Kitty exclaimed. "... until everything's ready."

"Alright," Hyde said. "We can look for houses, buy one we like, and take everything a step at a time, and when the baby comes, we'll work our way around it."

Jackie smiled. "Sounds good!"

"And I'd do most of the work, especially if the baby's here," Hyde added.

"Sounds even better!" She smiled even bigger. "Oh my God, I just... I can't believe this!"  
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

Three weeks had now passed, and Jackie and Hyde had found a house. They hadn't bought much furniture for it yet, but they had a couch, a TV, one big bed, one small bed, and all of the baby stuff they had gotten from the shower. They had put the furniture in the different rooms that they had claimed, and tonight was their first night.

It was eight thirty at night, and Jackie and Hyde were watching the recently set up TV while sitting on the couch they had bought the previous week. It was new, and while it wasn't fancy or extremely expensive, it still proved to be all that a couch should be.

"You ready for bed, honey?" Jackie asked Davey.

"I guess so," he responded. He said goodnight to Hyde, and they started walking to his room. "I'm gonna have my own room now!"

"Yeah!" Jackie smiled, happy that he was actually eager to have his own room.

She turned on the light and got him situated in bed. "And babe, don't worry. Me and Daddy are right next door if you need anything."

"It's gonna be weird without you, Mommy," Davey said.

Jackie laughed. "I know, babe. But I'll just be next door."

"Okay," Davey said, and pulled his blankets up.

"'Night, baby," Jackie said, smiling and leaning over a little to kiss him.

"'Night, Mommy." Davey turned over and closed his eyes. Jackie smiled and turned the lights off, walking back out to the living room.

"He seems pretty confident in himself," she said, laughing and sitting down next to Hyde on the couch.

"Well, this'll be nice then," Hyde said, putting an arm around her. "We finally get some time to ourselves."

Jackie laughed. "That's funny," she said sarcastically. "Really, though. There will be no time. I mean, once the baby comes..." She raised her eyebrows, indicating that they'd have no spare time.

Hyde smiled and kissed her. "It'll be easier then having to haul this thing around though, right?" he asked, gesturing to her stomach.

"I wish," Jackie said, laughing. Then she stopped, and smiled. "I'm so glad I have you, Steven. You'll never understand how happy I am now," she said, putting her arms around his neck.

"Well, this is definitely the most complete I've felt in the last six years," Hyde said. "Ever since that night... I don't know. If I hadn't come back for the wedding, I don't know what I would have done. Where I'd be."

"Yeah, and if I hadn't gotten pregnant," Jackie said, "we'd probably just be friends. Awkward friends who never talked," she added, laughing.

*********

A few hours later, they decided to go to bed.

"It's gonna be nice to sleep in a bigger bed," Hyde admitted.

"It's gonna be nice to sleep next to /you/," Jackie added, kissing him before she got into bed.

"Yeah, that too," Hyde joked.

They both were in bed now, and Hyde shut off the lights, getting closer to Jackie and wrapping his arms around her, resting them on her stomach.

"I love you, babe," he whispered.

Jackie smiled with her eyes closed. "I never would have thought I'd hear you say that without me having to say it first."

Hyde just laughed a little. "Well...?"

"I love you, too, Steven," Jackie laughed as he got up over her and kissed her face.

They both closed their eyes and tried to sleep for a few minutes, but were interrupted by the door opening.

Hyde sighed and sat up. "Davey?"

Davey slowly shut the door and walked up to Jackie's side of the bed, facing both of them. "I got scared 'cause I kept on hearing something."

Hyde frowned. "Dave..." he started, but was cut off by Jackie.

"No, Steven," she said, and then turned back to Davey. "Come on, honey, get in."

Davey got in the bed and in the middle of the two of them, snuggling up to his mother's back, and disrupting the position that Hyde's arms were at, around her waist.

"He'll get used to his bed," Jackie whispered to Hyde, "but you've gotta give him time. It's his first night, ever, without me."

Hyde sighed. "'Night."  
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

The next night, Davey had finally fallen asleep in his own bed. Jackie and Hyde only knew this because they had checked up on him before heading to bed.

Jackie yawned as she sat in bed. "I'm so tired."

"Then sleep," Hyde told her.

She laid down and rested her head on her pillow. Hyde watched her and stroked her hair as he laid down.

"It's nice to see you so affectionate," Jackie mumbled, laughing a little.

"Only because for the past almost year, all I've done is talk to you," he said, then added, "Well, almost. Because if that were true, you wouldn't be pregnant." He laughed and started rubbing her back, until he saw her jolt.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Steven..." Jackie sat there, not able to turn around and face him, obviously. "I just had a contraction."

"Which means...?"

"The baby's coming."

"In the middle of the night?"

"Well, yeah! We can't just /wait/!" Jackie got out of bed as fast as she could. "Steven, you have to wake Davey up. We have to go. Now!"

Hyde ran out of bed and into Davey's room. Davey stirred and turned around to face his father. "Huh?"

"We're going to the hospital. Your mom's having the baby," Hyde said, pulling the boy out of bed.

Davey rubbed his eyes. "Right now?"

"I guess so," Hyde said, and ran back to his bedroom to help Jackie out of the house.

"Daddy, what do I do?" Davey asked.

"Just go to the front door; we'll be right there," Hyde instructed, and Davey did as he was told.

Hyde held Jackie's hand, putting his arm behind her back and leading her to the door. "Come on, Jacks."

"Okay, okay," Jackie said, breathing hard.

Once they reached the car and everybody got in, they took off for the hospital immediately. Hyde was speeding, but he didn't care. Like, how many cops would really be out at night anyways?

Ten minutes later, they reached the hospital. Hyde got Jackie signed in right away, and they got a room.

"Normally, I'd tell you to call all of the Formans, but I think it's too late right now," Jackie said quietly.

"Well, I'm sure they'll be here in the morning anyway," Hyde said.

Jackie gasped again. "Oh my God, oh my God."

Hyde went to her side. "What's wrong?" he asked. "You okay?"

Davey followed. "What's wrong with Mommy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jackie sighed. "It just hurts really bad." She stopped and then gasped again. "Oh my God, oh my God!"  
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

After few hours of being in labor, the baby finally came through.

The doctor held the baby. "Congratulations," he said, "it's a girl!" 


	9. Fall Apart Again

"A girl?" Jackie smiled, even though she was in a lot of pain. "S-Steven. We have a daughter."

"I heard." Hyde smiled and squeezed her hand. "How you doing now, Jacks?"

"Um... still hurts."

After about ten minutes, they cleaned the baby and did... other things. Now, Jackie felt better, and the baby was still crying, which was a good sign.

"I have a sister!" Davey exclaimed, then paused. "What's her name?"

Hyde looked over at Jackie quickly. "He has a point. What's her name gonna be?"

Jackie thought for a minute. "Give me a second to think about it."

They waited a few minutes as Jackie thought, until the nurse came in. "What's her name, miss?"

Jackie smiled. "Holly Dina Hyde."

"L-L-Y or L-L-I-E?" the nurse asked.

"L-L-Y," Jackie spelled.

"Holly," Hyde repeated. "I like it."

"My sister's name is Holly?" Davey asked, and then smiled over at the baby. "It's cute."  
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Once morning came, Jackie made Hyde call Red, Kitty, Eric, and Donna.

"Congratulations, you are now a grandmother of three," Hyde said once Kitty picked up.

"You mean the baby's already born?" Kitty asked on the phone, stunned.

"Uh... yeah," Hyde responded.

"I missed the birth of my third grandchild?!" she asked again.

"We didn't want to wake you!"

"Don't. Tell. Me. Anything. I want to find out for myself! I'll be right there!" Kitty hung up.

Hyde called Eric and Donna next.

"You'll never guess what happened last night?" he said once Eric picked up.

"The baby wasn't born, was it?" Eric asked right away.

"Yeah. It's a-"

"Don't tell me!" Eric yelled. "Me and Donna want to see who won the bet!" He hung up.

Ten minutes later, they all were at the hospital. Kitty, Red, Donna (who was holding Daniel), and Eric stepped into the room to find Jackie holding the baby while laying in bed.

"Meet Holly," Jackie said, smiling at them.

"Oh my God... my first granddaughter!" Kitty rushed over to Jackie, eager to see the new addition.

Somewhere in the background, Eric handed Donna a twenty dollar bill before she came and joined them.

Hyde smiled proudly. Now he knew what it felt like to be through it all. It made him feel vaguely closer to Davey, too, after now knowing what it's like.

"Well," Eric said as he put a hand on Hyde's shoulder, "how's it feel like to be a first-yet-second dad?"

"'Feels great, Forman," Hyde said, still grinning at Jackie, who was handing Holly to Kitty.

"Man, you must... you must really love her, man," Eric commented, watching the way Hyde was smiling at her.

Hyde just nodded, still entranced in the way that Jackie and Kitty were smiling at the baby.

"I never thought I'd see the day when Hyde -the tripped up orphan rebel- would fall in love," Eric said, laughing a little.

"I'm gonna ask her to marry me," Hyde said suddenly, but quietly, while facing Eric.

"Seriously?" Eric asked in disbelief, then hugged him. "That's great, man. That's real great." He paused. "When?"

Hyde shrugged. "I dunno. But soon."

"I'm real happy for you, man," Eric said, grinning.

"Yeah, just... don't tell anyone," Hyde instructed. "Not even Donna."

"Whatever you say." Eric put his hands up and walked away to see Holly.

Hyde stepped closer and saw that Donna was now holding his daughter, while Kitty held Daniel.

"Well, hello there, Daniel," Kitty said. "Meet your new cousin!" She propped David up so he could see Holly, who was still in Donna's arms.

"Here, Hyde," Donna said, handing her to him.

Normally, Hyde wouldn't held a baby, but this was his daughter. It was different. Hyde smiled down at her subtly, before anybody else could see the pride on his face.

A few hours later, everybody had left, leaving Jackie, Hyde, Davey, and Holly in the room.

"Steven, when can we go home?" Jackie asked, sounding tired.

"They said you've gotta wait about another day," Hyde said.

Jackie's face fell. "That long?"

Hyde nodded and crossed his arms. "Me and Davey'd better get going. He missed school today, so..."

"You're right; we don't want him to miss tomorrow either," Jackie said. She smiled lightly. "You two gonna be okay without me?"

Hyde laughed. "I think we'll manage." He waved Davey over. "Come on, say bye to your mom and Holly."

Davey ran over. He kissed her, then kissed Holly. "Am I gonna see you guys tomorrow?"

Jackie nodded. "You'll come back here after school, babe." She hugged him before he walked to the door.

"See you tomorrow, Jacks," Hyde said, kissing her on the mouth. "Bye, Holly." He held the baby's little hand for a second before walking to the door.

"Love you," Jackie called after him.

He laughed. "Love you, Jacks."  
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The next morning, Hyde had gotten up early and took Davey to the bus stop. Immediately after, he went to the hospital. When he walked in, he found Jackie asleep.

He knelt down by the side of her bed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Jacks?" he whispered quietly.

"Mm..." Jackie's head moved a little as she stirred.

"Wake up, doll," he whispered again, gently rubbing her shoulder again.

Her eyes opened. "You're here," she said quietly.

"Yup," he said softly.

"How did Davey do?" Jackie asked, curious.

"He was fine," Hyde answered, then paused. "What made you think of the names? I mean, like Davey and Holly."

Jackie smiled. "I chose David just because I liked the name. His middle name, Derek, is a mix between the names of his godparents, Donna and Eric."

Hyde laughed. "Should have known you'd make those two the godparents. What about Holly?"

"I just liked that name, too. It was kind of spur of the moment." She smiled again at the thought of her daughter. "I wonder when she's coming back in."

Hyde shrugged. "I don't know. Want me to ask for her?"

Jackie nodded. "Yeah, but can you get me something to eat first? I'm starving."

"Sure." Hyde headed toward the door. "Be right back."

Ten minutes later, he arrived back with a plate of food for Jackie.

"Thanks," she said as she took it.

"I'll go see if they can bring Holly in," Hyde said, and left Jackie for a few more minutes.

A nurse came in with Hyde a few minutes later, holding Holly. Jackie jumped at the chance to see when she could leave.

"What time can I get out of here?" she asked the nurse.

"Well, it's morning," the nurse answered, "so I'd say probably around seven or eight at night. We can't get you out too early."

"Alright." Jackie looked down, then back up at her daughter, who was handed to her by the nurse.

"You do know that you should lay low for the next couple of weeks. No hard labor or exercise," the nurse reminded her.

"Yeah, I know. I've already gone through this before," Jackie said.

"Okay." The nurse headed toward the door. "Just come and get me or another staff member if she needs anything, Mr. Hyde."

"Will do," he said, and walked over to where Jackie and Holly were laying.

"Isn't she adorable?" Jackie asked, cradling the baby.

"Yeah," Hyde agreed, and smiled. "I'm glad I've finally gone through this with you, doll," he said, taking her hand.

"I'm glad you have, too," she said, squeezing his hand and looking down at their daughter. "I think Davey's happy, too. He finally has a sibling, and now I think it's kind of sealed that you're not going anywhere."

"I thought you knew that a long time ago," Hyde said.

"I did... and do. It was Davey I was worried about. I mean, you've only been with him for a year." Jackie looked at him as though it were obvious.

"Yeah, well, isn't that like a lifetime to little kids?" Hyde asked.

Jackie shrugged. "What's it matter? All that matter is that we're all together. Me, you, Davey, and Holly." She smiled down at the baby.

"Yeah." He took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to say and get himself into. "And Jackie," he said, still holding her hand as he stood up, "You know I care about you. You and Davey, and Holly, too. And I don't want to be with anybody other than-" He was cut off by Holly's crying.

"Hold on, Steven," Jackie said, trying to calm Holly down. "Holly, honey," she said softly, trying to get her to stop. "Here, Steven, you take her." She handed her to Hyde. Instantly, once she was in his arms, she stopped crying.

"Look at that." Jackie smiled. "She likes you."

He grinned at his daughter. "Babies never like me," he told her.

"That's because you never liked babies," Jackie pointed out.

"Good point," Hyde admitted.  
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Hyde had brought Davey to the hospital once he was out of school. They stayed there until seven, when Jackie was allowed to leave, along with Holly.

Once they got home, Jackie found herself barely able to keep her eyes open.

"Come on, Jacks. Go to bed," Hyde told her.

"No," she refused. "I want to stay up with her."

"Well, luckily, she's falling asleep too," Hyde said, gesturing toward Holly. "Come on, we'll put her in her room, and then you can go to bed."

"Fine," Jackie agreed.

They put Holly in her crib, which, at the moment was in their room (but only for a few weeks, they agreed).

Jackie crawled into bed after saying goodnight to Holly. Davey came in and kissed her goodnight.

She sighed. "It feels good to finally be able to lay on my stomach again," Jackie said. "It's been months."

"I bet, doll." He leaned over and kissed her softly. "'Night."

"Goodnight, Steven. Love you."

"I'll be in here in a few hours," Hyde said before shutting the door.

It was only seven thirty, so Davey would be up for another solid hour.

"How's it feel like to be a big brother, Dave?" Hyde asked him.

"Good!" Davey exclaimed. Hyde quieted him.

"Your mom and Holly are sleeping," Hyde said quietly.

"Sorry," Davey mouthed.

A knock on the door was heard. Hyde got up to get it, and saw Kitty, Eric, Donna, and Daniel at the door.

"Baby's asleep," Hyde explained. "So is Jackie."

"Oh my goodness." Kitty threw her hands up. "Red was right to stay home."

"No, you guys can come in and stay if you want," he offered, waving them in. "Just be quiet."

They took up his offer and came in.

"When did you get them back?" Donna asked.

"'Bout twenty minutes ago. Jackie and Holly just went to bed," Hyde informed them.

"Can I stay up late since we have people over?" Davey asked his father.

"Sorry; you have school in the morning and your mom would kill me." Hyde shrugged, making Donna and Eric laugh.

"You're afraid of Jackie now?" Eric asked.

Hyde laughed and shook his head. "She was more intimidating back in the day, don'tcha think?"

"Most definitely," Eric agreed, recalling her cheerleader burns and backstabbing insults.

"Now, Jackie's always been the sweetest thing," Kitty said, then thought about it. "Well, at least... she is now. I remember her self righteousness and pride when she was younger. And the backhanded compliments."

"See?" Eric laughed. "Even Mom thought Jackie was the devil back then."

"Mommy was mean?" Davey asked.

"Oh, kid, you've got a lot to learn." Hyde laughed as he put a hand on his son's shoulder. 


	10. Breathe

A/N: I'm now going in longer intervals of time. I plan to make this a long story, following their lives after Holly is born. I may skip by years or so after a while, but I want to hit some important things first.  
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One week had passed since Holly was born. Jackie was exhausted most of the time, what with getting up with Holly in the middle of the night and such.

Holly tended to cry a lot, unlike Davey when he was younger, and Daniel, too. Although her mother was always willing to hold her and help her, she always seemed to want to be with her father the most.

It was twelve o'clock now, and Holly had been taking a nap, until Jackie heard her start to cry. She rushed over to the room, picking her up.

"Shh," Jackie whispered. "What's wrong, Holly? Are you hungry?"

"She just had a bottle like twenty minutes ago!" Hyde shouted from the other room.

Holly continued to wail. "Honey, why are you crying?" Jackie asked, rocking the baby.

She walked into the living room, where Hyde was sitting. They had gotten more furniture, and now the house seemed more properly fit, and was almost finished.

"She okay?" Hyde asked as Jackie sat down.

Jackie shook her head. "You try it." She offered Holly to Hyde.

He took her, and right away, she stopped.

Jackie scoffed. "Why do you like him?" she asked. "He doesn't even /do/ anything for you!"

Hyde laughed. "That's why she likes me. I don't smother her."

Jackie got up and stood up, facing the couch, and looking in the mirror behind it. "Oh my God, I'm so fat."

"What are you even talking about?" Hyde asked.

"You see this?" Jackie asked grabbing the nearly nonexistant skin around her stomach. "That's fat."

"That's /supposed/ to be there," Hyde pointed out. "You barely look any different now. If anything, you need more weight."

"Sure," Jackie said sarcastically.

"I think you look pretty hot right now," Hyde said with his eyebrows raised.

"Okay, yeah, even though I'm still in my pajamas, my hair's not done, and I have no makeup on." Jackie rolled her eyes.

"You always look hot." Hyde grinned as she sat down next to him, and they started kissing, even though Hyde was still holding Holly.

Jackie broke away quickly. "Not now, Steven. We still have to wait five weeks." She got up to make Holly another bottle.

Hyde groaned at the thought, which was quickly interrupted by the door being opened.

"Davey, that you?" Jackie called from the kitchen.

"Yeah!" Davey yelled back. He threw his backpack down and ran into the kitchen, where his mother was. "Come to my room, I wanna show you something from school!" He started pulling her away, but Jackie held herself back.

"Sorry, babe, I have to make Holly a bottle. I'll be right there, 'kay?" She smiled at him.

"Okay." Davey ran to his room after picking up the backpack that he had previously thrown down.

Jackie finished making the bottle five minutes later, and walked into the living room to find Holly asleep in her father's arms.

"Really?" Jackie asked, and brought the bottle back into the kitchen. She got back to the living room. "Here, I'll take her back to the crib," Jackie whispered, offering her hands.

Hyde handed Holly over. She laid in her mother's arms for a minute, and then woke up and started crying again.

Jackie sighed. "Holly, why won't you sleep for me?"

The baby continued crying, so Jackie walked back into the kitchen while Holly cried in her arms, taking the bottle she'd just picked up. She walked into the living room and sat down with her as Holly started drinking it.

"There you go, honey." Jackie smiled at her daughter.

Ten minutes later, Holly was finished and was now starting to fall asleep on her mother's chest.

"Steven," Jackie hissed to avoid waking up the baby. "Take this," she said, holding out the bottle.

Davey ran out. "Mommy, I thought you said you were gonna come-"

"Shh!" Jackie put a finger to her lips, but it made no difference. As if on cue, Holly started to cry again. "Oh my God. See what you did, Davey?" she snapped, then instantly regretted it after seeing the shocked look on his face. He ran back to his room, as Holly's cries only became louder.

"Steven, please! Come take her!" Jackie called. "She'll stop for you!"

Hyde came back in and took her. "Shh, it's okay, Holl," he whispered, gently bouncing her. Her cries subsided and she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"How do you do that?" Jackie asked, throwing her hands up in the air, then waved him off. "Go on, take her to the crib."

"I'm gonna wait until she falls asleep again," he told her.

"I have to go see what Davey wanted to show me," Jackie remembered, running to his room. She saw that the door was shut, so she knocked lightly. He opened the door right away, and she could tell that he had just cried.

"Honey." Jackie rushed into his room and sat on the bed with him. "What's wrong? Is it because I yelled at you?"

Davey just shrugged.

"Baby, you were crying." She placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "I didn't mean to yell at you; it's just been really hard here lately with Holly."

Davey just looked down for a long time.

"Baby..." Jackie sat in front of him so he had to look at her. "Talk to me."

"You're always with Holly," he mumbled. "You don't talk to me anymore, because you and Daddy are always feeding her or something. Even when Aunt Donna or Uncle Eric or Grandma Kitty is over, they don't talk to me either."

Jackie frowned. "Honey, you don't understand how hard it is!" She paused to see a reaction, but got nothing. "Holly, for some reason, cries a lot. She's always up in the middle of the night, so I get no sleep, and she never sleeps during the day, unless she's being held by Daddy. She doesn't even like it when I'm holding her." Jackie laughed bitterly.

"Do you not love Holly?" Davey asked.

"No, honey! Of course I love her! She's my daughter! I love her just like I love you." She hugged him, and pulled back, hand still on his shoulder.

"How can you love Holly as much as me when you've known me longer?" Davey asked, confused.

"You'll understand once you have a kid or two someday." Jackie smiled, then stopped. "But I don't want to think about that. Come on, why don't you show me what you wanted to earlier?"

Davey smiled. "Okay." He pulled out a picture from his backpack. It was very obviously drawn by a kindergartener, but it was still sweet. "It's Holly, see?"

"That's so good!" Jackie smiled at him. "We'll have to save that, and we can show her once she gets older."

Davey smiled again, and Jackie stood up. "I've gotta check up on how your sister's doing now. I hope she's sleeping." She walked out into the hall and saw Hyde about to put her in the crib in their room. He noticed her watching. "Don't even try to come in here," he mouthed to her.

Jackie scoffed, but knew that he was probably right. A minute later, he walked out.

"She fell asleep a few minutes ago," Hyde told her.

"Good." She sighed. "I sort of yelled at Davey earlier."

"No kidding," Hyde said. "You apologize?"

"Of course!" She let her hands fall to her waist. "He forgave me. But I think he's starting to get a little jealous of Holly."

"Huh." Hyde sat back down on the couch. "I was wondering when that was gonna happen."

"I can't believe how much Holly likes you," Jackie said randomly.

"Well, it was about time. Davey's attached to you; now I have Holly." Hyde laughed.

"You're crazy," Jackie said. "I do everything for her!"

"You mean, you try to do everything for her until you give up when she won't stop crying. Then you give her to me," he joked.

"Shut up," Jackie said. Hyde couldn't tell if she was joking or if his comment actually got to her.

"I'm kidding, Jacks. I've already told you this: you're a great mom." He smiled at her. "Davey loves you, Holly... well, she will love you." He grinned jokingly and then took her hand. "And you know I love you." Well, now or never, he thought. "And... I really want to be with you. And I know you want to be with me, so... will you... marry me?"

Jackie gasped, smiling. "Steven... are you serious?"

"Would I joke about it?"

"I don't know!" she exclaimed, and then wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. "Of course I'll marry you, babe. Wasn't I the one who rooted for this all along?"

"Well, last time I went to propose to you, things didn't go so well, as we both remember." Hyde smirked.

Jackie ignored his last comment and kissed him. "I love you so much, Steven."  
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Two weeks later...

It was night. Jackie had finally gotten Holly to fall sleep in her room around ten; Davey falling asleep almost two hours prior to that.

After getting in her pajamas, Jackie got into bed, and a minute after, Hyde joined her. Once the lights were off, Jackie pushed the covers off of her.

"It's so hot in here," Jackie said. "We need to buy a fan."

"Sounds good," Hyde said. He reached over and started stroking her bare arm, up and down, giving her chills. He saw her shiver. "That better?"

"Much," Jackie agreed.

Hyde continued stroking her arm for a few more minutes. Then he put his hand on Jackie's bare stomach, since her shirt had risen a bit, and started gently rubbing in a circular motion. During the couple minutes of rubbing, he leaned over and kissed her neck repeatedly until she abruptly moved.

"Stop it," Jackie snapped, taking his hand off of her tummy and pushing his head away. "You're really turning me on." She smiled sheepishly.

"That was the point," Hyde said, going to put his hand back.

She put it back by his side. "Still have three weeks, babe."

"Can't we cut it three weeks short?" he asked. She rolled her eyes even though it was dark.

"No. So stop trying to make me give in." She rolled on her side and tried to sleep, but was unsuccessful. "Steven?"

"Huh."

"We... we haven't talked about the wedding," she pointed out.

Hyde rolled over to his side so he was facing Jackie. "I know. And Jacks-"

"Hold on. I know that you... don't want a big wedding. And honestly, I know it wouldn't feel right anyways. I haven't seen my father in years, we barely have any family, and we have two kids, so it's not like it would be the same. So, I'm willing to just skip the ceremony and get the legal document with you." She frowned at the bed.

"Wow." Hyde looked seriously at her. "You sure about this?"

Jackie nodded. "I mean, now... I'd almost prefer it."

"Well, when do you want to do it?"

"Soon." She smiled and kissed him. "Very soon."

So the next day they went to the city hall and were officially married. 


	11. Someday

Three months later...

Daniel was now six months old, while Holly was four months. Jackie and Donna frequently brought the two together to play, although neither really did much.

Today was a Sunday, and Fez had decided to come to Point Place for the week to visit his friends and to finally meet Daniel and Holly. Kelso had come a few months before. Now, Jackie and Donna were in Donna and Eric's living room with Daniel and Holly, while Eric, Hyde, and Davey were in the basement watching TV.

"I can't wait for Fez to come," Jackie revealed. "I'm sure he'll love Holly."

"Well, it's six thirty," Donna said. "He should be here any-"

"Hello people!" Fez's voice rang through the room.

"Fez!" Jackie ran up to him with Holly in her hands. "This is-" She stopped when she noticed a baby in his hands. "Who is this?" she asked suspiciously.

"My son," Fez said. "I told you about him at the shower, remember Jackie?"

"Oh my God. I guess I didn't believe you." She looked down at the baby. "How old is he? What's his name?" She looked over to the room. "Donna, come here!"

"This is Alexander. He's gonna be one on March fourth," Fez said.

"Oh my God!" Donna exclaimed. "He's gonna be one?" She looked around from baby to baby. "Our kids can all be friends!"

Fez nodded. "Gemma's getting his stuff out of the car."

Donna and Jackie narrowed their eyes. "Who's Gemma?"

"My wife, you silly gooses!" Fez rolled his eyes.

"Geese," Donna quietly corrected.

"Whatever," Fez said. "Anyway... we come bearing news."

"Bearing news?" Jackie scrunched up her nose. "Whatever. But before you tell us anything, we'll have to join the guys in the basement, so they can hear, too. I wouldn't want them to miss out if it's important."

"Hm, she's thinking of others?" Fez asked Donna, and twirled a finger around his head. "This does not sound like Jackie Burkhart to me."

"That's because it's not," Donna pointed out, causing Fez to look confused.

"It's Jackie Hyde now, Fez," Jackie said, smiling.

"Oh my God. You two... you couldn't have! How did you get him to do it?" Fez asked.

"He asked /me/!" Jackie jumped excitedly. "Only there was no ceremony. Just some papers signed."

Fez gasped. "But you always wanted a fancy wedding!"

"I did, but I settled for something less because it was almost ridiculous, what with two kids and all." She held the baby up. "Speaking of, this is Holly."

"She's gorgeous!" Fez exclaimed.

"Yeah, but be careful when you get near her. I'm amazed when Jackie holds her and she doesn't cry," Donna said.

Jackie rolled her eyes. "She likes her daddy."

Fez smiled as Gemma walked into the door. She was petite, tan, and had dark hair and a vaguely pointed nose.

"Gemma, we're going downstairs before I introduce you to everybody." Everybody raced down the stairs, except for Jackie who went slowly, careful not to disturb Holly from her good mood.

Once they got down to where the guys were, Fez introduced everybody to Gemma. And immediately after Holly saw Hyde, she whined until Jackie gave her up to him.

"Oh my God, Jackie," Fez said. "It's true!"

"Hard to believe, huh?" Hyde asked as Holly rested her head on his shoulder.

"So, Uncle Fez, this is my cousin?" Davey asked, pointing to Alexander.

"Yes, yes he is." Fez nodded vigorously. He turned to where Donna was standing. "So this is Daniel, huh?"

"Yeah." Donna grinned at the baby.

"He looks just like Eric," Fez pointed out. "And he's what, six months?"

Donna nodded, taking a seat next to her husband while holding Daniel, who buried his face in his mother's shoulder.

"Anyway," Fez said, "Gemma and I have news."

"Which would be...?" Jackie asked.

"We're moving back to Point Place today!" they shouted at the same time.

"Oh my God!" Everybody was pretty happy upon hearing this news.

"Now all we need is Kelso and we're set," Eric said.

"Yeah, I miss that idiot," Donna agreed.

"Do you have a house already?" asked Jackie.

"Yup. A two bedroom house on Kitty and Red's street." Fez smiled.

"Oh no. Red's not gonna like that." Eric laughed at his naive foreign friend.

"Oh Eric, always such a joker. Red loves me!" Fez exclaimed.

Gemma was new to all of this, so she didn't say anything, but just sat down in the chair next to the couch and held Alexander.

After this, everybody turned to their own mini conversations.

"Steven, is she sleeping yet?" Jackie asked anxiously.

Hyde looked down at Holly and nodded.

"Can I take her now?"

He started to protest. "Jackie-"

She pouted. "Please?"

He rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said, handing Holly over to her mother.

She stayed asleep. "I should give her a bottle soon," Jackie said.

"Well, just wait until she wakes up," Hyde told her.

"Aw, Hyde is now a true father. A father of two," Fez added.

Hyde just rolled his eyes and watched his wife hold their daughter.

"Hey, Mommy? Can I-" Davey was cut off by a 'shh' from Hyde.

"Sorry," Davey whispered. "Is Holly sleeping?"

Hyde nodded and pointed to the baby who was asleep on Jackie's shoulder.

"If you wanna put Holly in Daniel's crib, go right ahead," Eric told Jackie.

"No, this is fine." Jackie smiled. "I like this."

At the sound of Jackie's voice, Holly started to stir. "I spoke too soon," Jackie said quietly.

Holly awoke but didn't cry, and amazingly, she stayed in her mother's arms. Jackie hugged the baby and kissed her head.

"Davey, Holly's in a good mood," Jackie said, calling him over.

He came over to them. "Can I hold her?"

"Yeah, just sit down next to me." Davey sat down and Jackie handed her to him. Once she was in his arms, though, she started crying.

"I didn't do anything!" Davey said, mad that she started crying.

"Oh my God. This means... she wanted /me/!" Jackie clapped, then saw Davey's frown. "I'm sorry, babe, but she usually only wants Daddy." She took Holly back, but she still continued to cry. "I'll be right back." She got up with Holly to get her a bottle.

"Mommy spends all her time with Holly," Davey pouted.

Donna swooped in. "Honey, she's a baby. Your mommy has to spend her time with Holly. It'll be easier once she gets older, maybe in a few years."

Davey frowned again. "That long?"

Donna nodded. "It'll go by fast. Wait until she starts talking and walking."

"I can't wait for that stage," Eric chipped in, looking at his own son.

Fez, Gemma, and Alexander had gone upstairs to get another surprise for the gang, leaving them anything but interested.

Jackie came back downstairs with Holly, who was holding a bottle. She sat next to Hyde, almost on his lap, and put the bottle in Holly's mouth.

"Wow. So Fez is married. And has a kid. And... is moving here," Eric said.

"Yeah. What a shock, man," Hyde agreed.

"Well, it'll be nice to have Fez back," Donna said. "I mean, maybe he's not as creepy and perverted now that he's married."

Jackie raised her eyebrows. "I doubt it. I thought I saw him head towards your bedroom before he left." She laughed.

"Man, I thought that phase was over with." Donna put her head in her hands.

"What can I say? Once a foreign creep, always a foreign creep. Emphasis on the foreign," Jackie added.

"Somebody talking about me?" Fez asked, now walking down the stairs with a new person.

"Kelso!" Eric shouted. "We were just talking about you a while ago!"

"Yeah, well, sorry to ruin your evening, but I can't stay long," Kelso revealed.

"Why? You just got here, what could you possibly be doing?" Donna asked him.

"I'm going on a date with this girl, and get this... she's a virgin!" Kelso cheered. "Ohhh yeah, we'll be popping a lot more than champagne tonight, baby!"

The group looked at him in disgust. "You're sick," Jackie pointed out. "There are kids in the room. Speaking of, where's Betsy?"

"Brooke has her this week." Kelso frowned, along with Davey. Betsy was the only person that Davey really knew (outside of school) that was his age, so he always liked playing with her, even if she always got him into trouble.

Kelso grinned. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Congratulations to the newlyweds!" He raised an invisible glass.

"For God's sake, Kelso, it's been three months," Hyde said.

Kelso ignored him. "You know, it's so weird. Like, I should be mad and stuff, because Jackie was my first girlfriend and me and Hyde fought over her before and everything. But I'm so happy about you two. I mean, you're Betsy's freakin' godparents, okay? It's like, she brought you two /together/."

Eric coughed. "Um, technically, that was our /wedding/," he said, motioning between Donna and himself.

"Brought us together?" Jackie asked. "No. We did that on our own, nobody /forced/ us to become a couple." She looked over at Hyde and smiled.

"Holly done now?" Hyde asked.

Jackie nodded and set the bottle on the table, leaning back into the couch and putting her head on Hyde's shoulder afterward.

"Aw." Kelso clapped. "See? Look at that. That, my friends, is like a freaking love story right there."

Hyde just gave him a weird look. "Kelso, shut up."

"Hyde, let him talk. He's actually making sense," Donna put in.

"Yeah, it's not as bad as the one time he heard 'Don't Do Me Like That' and decided to make a cover of it on the guitar called 'Don't Burn Me Like That.'"

Kelso grinned. "It was awesome!"

"Yeah. If only you knew more of the lyrics," Eric said.

"Speaking of burns, Betsy is finally grasping the concept." Kelso grinned proudly.

"That's... great, Kelso," Eric agreed slightly.

"I'll be right back," Jackie whispered. "She's falling asleep and I don't want any of you loudmouths waking her up." She headed upstairs.

"Man, she sounds just like Red, doesn't she?" Eric asked.

Hyde laughed and got up to follow his wife and daughter. He made it to Daniel's room, where Jackie was gently placing Holly in the crib.

"She okay?" Hyde asked quietly.

Jackie nodded and looked back down at her. "Almost asleep," she whispered.

Hyde smiled. "Good."

"It's getting late," Jackie pointed out. "Maybe I should just hold her if we're gonna leave soon. It's almost eleven and I know Davey won't make it."

"Just let her sleep for a little bit. Let's go back downstairs." He led her to the basement and they sat down in their spots again.

Davey, who was getting to be extremely tired, saw his mother was free of Holly, and came over to her, cuddling up to her side and closing his eyes.

Jackie smiled, putting her fingers through his hair. "My baby." She turned to the rest of the group, who was observing the scene. "Did Michael leave?"

"Yeah. He remembered the virgin," Fez said.

Jackie laughed. "Yeah, well, me and Steven should get going soon, too. Davey's already out, and I'm sure Holly is, too."

"Aw. Well, we'll see you guys tomorrow anyway, right?" Donna asked.

"Of course." Jackie smiled as they got up. She gently shook Davey's shoulder. "Baby, we've gotta go." He barely moved, then his eyes opened and he stood up, yawning. "Okay."

Hyde started walking up the stairs as Jackie led him up.

"Steven, can you take him to the car? I'm gonna get Holly." she said, gesturing toward Davey.

"Sure," he said, leading his son toward the door.

Jackie went into Daniel's room quietly and looked at the sleeping baby. Jackie smiled at her, not wanting to disturb her one bit, but she knew she had to. She slowly reached down and picked Holly up. Of course, she awoke for a second, but then quickly made herself comfortable, leaning her head against Jackie's chest.

Proud that Holly hadn't started crying, Jackie confidently walked out to the car, eager to get home. 


	12. Here

A year and eight months later...

It was Holly's second birthday. She could now talk a bit, and walk, as could Daniel. Davey was now seven, and was in second grade. The regular group of friends were over, and they were all hanging out in Jackie and Hyde's living room.

"Wow," Donna said. "Look at Danny, Alex, and Holly. They love hitting the coffee table."

Jackie turned around. "No, no! Sweetie, no!" She led them toward where the adults were sitting.

"So Holly is now two, yes?" Fez asked.

"Obviously, Fez," Jackie said. "That's what the balloons say, if you haven't noticed."

Holly ran toward Hyde. "Daddy!" She threw her arms around his neck, her dark hair flying about.

"Hey, Holl." Hyde smiled at his daughter. She was the near spitting image of Jackie, and everybody knew it. She had the dark, wavyish hair and Jackie's skin tone, but her eyes were as blue as Hyde's.

Daniel came around and sat on Donna's lap; she was sitting on the floor. "Holly." He pointed to the little girl, who was still clinging onto Hyde.

Donna smiled. "Yeah, that's Holly. And Alex is over there, too." She pointed to Fez's son.

Alex came over. "Go, Danny."

"Where are you two going?" Donna asked as the boys started walking off.

"Cake." They grinned at each other.

Jackie smiled at the boys as she turned around. "You two want cake?" They nodded. "We'll cut the cake right after we eat, I promise."

The boys frowned. "That's long."

Jackie shrugged. "Uncle Steven's gonna get the pizza in five minutes. That's when the big hand is on the six." She pointed to the clock and scooted towards her husband and daughter. "How's it feel like to be two, Holly?"

Holly just shrugged.

"You wanna see what Alex and Danny are doing?" Jackie asked her.

"Daddy," Holly said, clearly confused.

Jackie turned to Donna. "We're gonna have to start calling him Dan. She thinks that I'm saying 'daddy' when I say 'Danny.'"

Donna laughed. "But Dan sounds so old and mature!"

Jackie turned back to Holly. "Can you come see Mommy?" She held her arms out for Holly to come. Holly stayed in Hyde's arms until he put her down.

"I've gotta go get the pizza, Holl. Go see your mom." He gently pushed her towards Jackie. Holly settled for her mother, and sat in her lap.

Davey started coming down the stairs. "Is the food here yet, Mommy?"

"No. Sorry, baby. Stay down here, though. You're missing out on the party!" She gestured for him to come down, so he did so.

Sitting next to his mother, he smiled at Holly. "Happy birthday, Holly."

"Davey!" She smiled at her brother.

"What have you even been doing up there? Why haven't you joined the party?" Jackie asked him.

He smiled sheepishly. "Video games," he said.

"Oh, come on, honey. You could have invited a friend or something," Jackie said.

Davey raised his eyebrows. "To Holly's birthday?"

Jackie shrugged. "Why not? Just have fun, baby." She squeezed his shoulder affectionately, causing Holly to do anything to get her mother's attention. "What's wrong, Holly?" she asked as Davey walked away.

"My mommy," she simply said.

Jackie smiled. "I'm Davey's mommy, too, sweetie," she said, hugging her daughter tighter, causing Holly to attempt to get out of her mother's grasp.

"I wanna see Alex and Da... Danny." Holly jumped up and ran out of the room.

"Not so fast, honey!" Jackie called after her.

"You're lucky she sits still for you, at least for a little while," Donna commented. "Danny's always on the move."

"Yeah, well it's usually now me she sits for. She would rather be with Steven." Jackie sighed, moving up to the couch.

"Nothing wrong with that. It's better than not being able to relate to either parent, like I was." Donna laughed.

Jackie smiled. "I think she relates more to me... I think she prefers Steven."

Donna just laughed again. "Who would have thought?" She looked over at the kids. Daniel and Alex were trying to pull out a plug to a lamp as Holly was walking over. Jackie ran up to them.

"No," she said slowly, pointing at the cord. "You can't play with this. Take this toy instead." She handed them a little plaything, which they threw aside.

Jackie sighed. "You kids are too much."

A few minutes later, the pizza arrived, so everybody sat down to eat, and then after, as Jackie promised, they cut the cake.

After Holly opened her presents, with help from her parents, everybody started leaving. Fez, Gemma, and Alex had already left, as did Kitty and Red. Now it was only Donna, Eric, and Daniel.

"We'll see you guys later, Jackie," Donna said.

"Yeah," Eric agreed. "Happy birthday, Holly," he said to the little girl.

"Uckle Ewic," she said, pointing and smiling.

Jackie smiled. "Holly, can you give Danny a hug?" she asked, pointing to the little boy.

Holly smiled as she made her way over to the little boy. She hugged him quickly.

"Aw," everybody said.

"Come on, Danny. It's pretty late." Eric picked up his son and they walked out the door.  
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o A/N: I feel like a horrible person for skipping another two years, but I'm running out of ideas! My plan is to skip a few years between chapters, but when they get to be teenagers, I'm gonna take it slower. So...

TWO YEARS LATER...

"Holly, will you get off?" Davey asked, annoyed with his sister. "Mom, she's hitting me!"

Jackie looked from the couch, where she was sitting, reading a magazine. "Holly, quit hitting your brother."

Holly sighed and sat down. "When's Daddy gonna get home?"

Jackie shrugged. "Probably a few hours." Hyde had gotten a job a while back.

"Can I call Ryan, Mom?" nine-year old Davey asked. "Maybe I can go to his house. It's really boring here."

"Go ahead." Jackie sighed.

"Mommy, can we go see Auntie Donna and Danny?" Holly asked.

"They're coming over in a half hour, baby," Jackie told her. "We don't need to go over there now."

Donna was pregnant again, about four months, with another boy.

Holly sighed. "There's nothing to do. Can we go somewhere?"

"Holly, just wait thirty minutes!" Jackie said, flipping a page.

"You're mean," Holly said, slumping her shoulders.

Jackie sighed and got up, turning on the TV. "Here, watch TV. One show and they'll be here, I promise."

Holly watched the show, and Davey ended going to his friend's house. A half hour later, there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" Holly cried, getting up. Jackie just smiled and followed her daughter.

She was greeted by Donna and Danny. "Hey!"

Danny, a skinny little brown haired boy who was the spitting image of his father, ran in. "Holly!"

"Is Alex coming, too?" Holly asked her mother.

"Sorry, baby," Jackie said. "Fez and Alex aren't coming. But you and Danny go ahead and play while me and Auntie Donna talk, okay?"

Holly nodded and ran off with her best friend.

"They're so cute," Jackie gushed.

"I know. Before we know it, they'll be dating," Donna said.

Jackie shook her head. "No. Holly wouldn't date Danny. I know she won't." She laughed.

Donna stared at her. "And what's wrong with my son?"

"Nothing!" Jackie insisted. "It's just... he's like mini Eric. And she's like mini me. So, naturally, it'd be like..." She trailed off, her face displaying a look of disgust.

"Yeah, but you and Eric were never friends when you were little anyway," Donna said. "I've known Eric since I was four. They've known each other since birth."

"So it's basically like they're related," Jackie pointed out. "Yeah, no dating."

"What are you guys talking about?" Holly asked, walking into the room.

"Nothing. Where's Danny?" Donna asked. Just as she asked, he appeared next to Holly.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you playing?" Jackie asked.

"There's nothing to do!" they both whined.

"Oh my God. I thought this would end once you guys came. Now it's double!" Jackie sighed.

"Okay, how about if we... go to the movies or something? Does that sound good?" Donna asked.

"Donna, you don't have to if you don't feel like it. I mean, you are pregnant." Jackie gestured to her friend's stomach.

"No, I'm fine," Donna said. "Does that sound good to you two?"

"Yeah!" They cheered, and Jackie and Donna got them into the backseat of the car as they argued over what movie to see. 


	13. Standing Still

"Daddy!" five year old Holly yelled. "Where are you?"

The little girl walked aimlessly around her Uncle Kelso's house attempting to find her father, but only seeing her parents' friends, her mother, and her brother.

Davey rushed over to her. "What's wrong, Holl?"

"I can't find Daddy," she explained to her brother.

Jackie noticed her children talking and rushed over. "What's wrong?"

"Holly can't find Dad," Davey told his mother.

Jackie smiled. "Of course. He went outside with Uncle Eric, baby. But I'm here." She held her arms open for her daughter.

Holly ignored her and started walking toward the door, causing Jackie to put her arms down and sigh.

"I never win with her, do I? Not even when I buy her stuff." Jackie shook her head.

"I guess not," Davey concluded.

Jackie smiled and put her arms around her son. "But you'll always be my baby, right?"

Davey squirmed. "Mom, I'm gonna be eleven!"

Jackie sighed. "Yeah, but you did always choose me over your dad."

"That's because I've known you all my life," Davey said. "I've known Dad for only half."

Jackie frowned. "Yeah, I guess so. You remember when it was just you and me?"

Davey nodded. "We used to live at Grandma Kitty and Grandpa Red's."

"Yeah." Jackie smiled and rubbed his back. "When they had a house. Now they're at that nursing home."

"I know." Davey nodded.

Jackie paused. "You ever think of what it'd be like if you had another sibling? One that liked me more?"

Davey laughed. "You've got to be kidding me." He got up and walked away.

****************

Holly ran outside to where her father stood with her Uncle Eric.

"Daddy!" she called to get his attention.

He turned around. "Holl? What are you doing out here?"

"I missed you." She grinned and he picked her up.

Eric smiled at the sight. "She's really daddy's little girl, huh?"

Holly nodded and Hyde smiled. "Yup."

"Yeah. I've just got my two boys. And Craig's not even one," Eric said.

Hyde laughed. "Well, who knows. You and Donna could get busy again. Have another one."

Eric looked appalled. "Two is enough. Believe me. You've only dealt with the baby thing once."

Holly looked puzzled. "What's he mean?"

"Nothing, Holl," Hyde quickly said.

Suddenly, the door quickly opened, revealing Danny. "Holly, are you coming? Alex wants to play tag."

Holly jumped off of her father. "Okay."

Eric looked over his shoulder as the two kids walked inside. "Maybe you and Jackie should have another one."

"Funny, Forman." Hyde rolled his eyes.  
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Jackie crawled into bed as her husband shut off the main light.

"Finally," Hyde murmured. "Peace and quiet. No kids."

Jackie shrugged. "I don't mind the kids."

Hyde laughed. "You know what Forman suggested earlier? That we have another kid. Insane."

She weakly laughed. "It's not /that/ insane of an idea... is it?"

"Are you kidding me? Three kids? Oh yeah." Hyde rolled over to look his wife square in the eye. "You're not thinking of trying again, are you?"

Jackie turned away. "Not thinking of it," she said quietly.

Hyde abruptly sat up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that... I think... I am... well, you know." Jackie looked down.

"Jackie, no. Oh my God. Wow." Hyde sat in silence for a moment. "How...? Oh wow."  
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"Called it!" Eric grinned as he watched his best friend's wife walk in the house, her bump prominant. He took great pride in predicting her pregnancy, even though it was over a half a year ago.

"I can't believe you're having another boy," Donna commented. "A fourth boy, if you put ours together. Wow."

Jackie smiled. "Yeah, I know. Davey's pretty excited about it. I'm not sure how Holly feels. She hasn't really responded."

"Holly, are you excited for your new brother?" Donna asked.

Holly shrugged. "I don't really care."

Donna gave Jackie a weird look. "Peculiar."

"Hm? Yeah, I guess so."

*********************************

Two weeks later, Jackie was rushed to the hospital due to labor. It was summer, so the kids came to the hospital, too, since they had no school.

"Is Mommy gonna be okay?" Holly asked after seeing her mother cry in pain.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. She did the same thing with the two of you," Hyde said.

"Yeah," Davey agreed. "I remember when Holly was born."

Holly gave her brother a weird look, so he just grinned and slapped her arm playfully.

"Ow! Daddy!" She pointed to Davey. "Did you see that?"

Hyde rolled his eyes. It was going to be a long couple of hours.

***********************************

After a few hours, Liam Michael Hyde was born, the younger brother of Davey and Holly. 


	14. Tonight

"Oh my God. Liam is so adorable!" Kitty gushed the first time she saw the little baby.

"Yeah, he's pretty cool," Hyde said proudly, looking over at his wife. They had just gotten home from the hospital the previous day.

"He's so little," Donna said in amazement. "I remember when Danny and Craig were that little."

"Yeah, he's really cute," Eric agreed.

Holly sighed dramatically. Usually her family was fawning over her. Asking her how she could have possibly gotten more beautiful since the last time they saw her. Seeing if she felt alright every other second. Telling her how nice her new shirt was. Now everybody was obsessed with Liam, even her /father/.

Davey walked in the room and sat on the couch next to his sister. "Lemme guess. Jealous?"

"No," Holly said. "I don't care."

"Come on. I mean, I know you don't care if Mom is always with the baby, but your entire entourage? Impossible," Davey said sarcastically.

"I don't even know what that means. I'm six," Holly reminded him.

"Well, now you're the middle child," Davey commented. "I'm the oldest, so I get to do everything first. And Liam's the youngest, so everybody will always be taking care of him. And you're just... you. Good luck with the rest of your youth." He grinned to let her know he was joking, but he should have known better than to say anything like that to Holly.

She looked at him in fear. "Are they gonna forget about me?"

"Who knows? It all depends on how demanding Liam is gonna be." Davey shrugged.

"Were you this scared when I was born?" Holly asked.

"No, because I was the older brother, not the middle kid," he joked.

Holly looked down at the floor and Davey saw a tear roll down her face.

"Holl, I was just joking. They couldn't ever forget you. How could they forget you? You're so /loud/," Davey offered.

"Yeah, right," Holly sniffed. "Look at them. Even Daddy's with him. Daddy has barely even talked to me today."

"That's just 'cause he's a new baby, Holl," Davey explained. "It was like this with you. Babies need a lot of work and help to take care of. Once he gets older it gets easier and Mom and Dad will have more time."

"Older? You mean it's not just today that they'll be ignoring me?" Holly panicked.

"They aren't ignoring you, Holl." Davey sighed. "Never mind. Forget I said anything. In fact, forget I even came in here." He got up and left.

"Well, that's kind of hard now," Holly whispered.

Two weeks later...

Holly laid in bed, trying to sleep. She was just reaching the moment where she was about to fall asleep, until she heard a cry in the room next door. Instantly, she jumped. Then, she sat up and heard her mother run out of her parents' room to get Liam, who was still crying.

Angrily, Holly hopped out of bed and ran into the hall to see her mother cradling her baby brother.

"Holly?" Jackie whispered in surprise. "What are you doing up?"

"Liam woke me up," Holly said sternly.

"Shh..." Jackie put a finger to her lips. "Of course. He's about to fall asleep any minute now, though. Go back to bed, honey."

"Fine," Holly pouted and walked back to her room and fell asleep.

A few hours later, she awoke once again to Liam's cries. This time she heard her mother yell at her dad to get up.

Holly got up out of bed again and went into the hall where her father was holding Liam, who was still crying.

"Does he ever just sleep?" she asked.

"I know, Holl. But you were the same way, remember that," Hyde reminded her. "And you'd cry all night if I wasn't around."

Holly smiled at the thought. In a way, things hadn't changed.

"It seems like Liam is the same way with your mom though. Jackie!" he called.

Holly saw her mother run out of the room, yawning fiercely. "Come on, baby," Jackie whispered to Liam, taking him in her arms.

He was instantly pacified, and Jackie laid him in his crib again. "Alright, show's over. Bed," Jackie whispered, heading to her and Hyde's room. 


	15. Head Over Feet

The year that Davey started seventh grade, Jackie started noticing weird behavior in him. He made an effort to not look like a complete slob every morning, and he started asking for rides to the movies (which he said he was seeing with friends) more and more. And it all hit her one day when he came home from school.

"Mom, I'm home!" Davey yelled as he got off the bus. Holly was in second grade, so she was still in school.

"Hey, babe." Jackie walked over to see him while carrying two year old Liam. "What's up?"

"Can I have a ride to the movies tomorrow? Since it's Friday and everything, I figured-" Davey was interrupted by Liam.

"Davey!" Liam cried, reaching out for his brother. Davey laughed and took him from his mother.

"Movies again?" Jackie laughed. "I can't wait until you get you're license. That's in a few years though. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a girlfriend."

Davey blushed and looked away.

"Oh my God," Jackie said quickly. "/Do/ you have a girlfriend?"

Davey shook his head. "No," he said quickly.

"Then who are you going to the movies with?" Jackie asked suspiciously.

Davey paused. "Um..."

"See? You do!" Jackie insisted. "What's her name?"

Davey blushed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, sure. Oh my God. Your first girlfriend! She is your first, right?" Jackie asked.

Davey nodded slowly. "Her... her name's Rachel."

Jackie grinned. "I was right!" Then she paused. "Why did you keep this from me?"

He shrugged. "It was kinda weird, I guess."

"How long have you been dating for?"

"Like... two weeks?" Davey guessed.

"Oh my God." Jackie sat in shock.  
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It was dinner, and now everybody was home. They sat at the table in silence until Holly broke it.

"Davey has a girlfriend," she teased.

"Shut up, Holly," he shot back, quickly.

"We all know, Holl," Hyde put in.

Holly just grinned. "Davey and... what's her name again?"

"Rachel," Davey said, frowning.

"Davey and Rachel, sitting in a tree, K-I... ow, what was that for?" She looked under the table after Davey kicked her.

"Don't kick her, Dave. Just tell her to shut up," Hyde offered.

"Hey!" Holly yelled, taking a bite of her dinner.

Jackie smiled. "I wouldn't say anything, Holly. You could have a boyfriend soon."

Hyde raised his eyebrows. "You're funny. She's freakin' eight." He pointed at his daughter. "No boyfriends."

She laughed. "I know."

"You know, it's Craig's fourth birthday tomorrow," Jackie said about Donna's second son. "We're going to the party."

"But Mom, I'm supposed to..." Davey trailed off. "Um, movies. Remember?"

Jackie sighed. "You can go to the movies. Holly, you're going though, okay?"

"I want to go," Holly said. "I get to see Danny and Alex. I just hope that the kid doesn't follow me around," she added, meaning Liam.

"Aw," Jackie murmured, looking at her youngest son. "Why wouldn't you want him around you? He's so sweet."

Liam laughed as Jackie tickled him.

"Because he's annoying and cries when me and my friends try to play," Holly explained matter-of-factly.

"Well, he likes to stay by his mommy anyway." Jackie smiled at him.

"Okay. Good." Holly got up and brought her plate to the kitchen sink.  
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The next night, Jackie had dropped off Davey at the movies, and after examining the crowd to find Rachel (and being unsuccessful), she, Hyde, Holly, and Liam left for Eric and Donna's.

Once they got there, they were greeted immediately by Kitty. "Oh, my little Holly! How are you? Oh my goodness, Liam is so adorable! Come here, hon... wait... where's Davey?"

"He's at the movies," Hyde explained. "With his girlfriend." He laughed and Kitty gave a surprised expression.

"Oh wow!" Kitty smiled. "Little Davey's growing up."

Jackie and Liam went over to see Donna and Craig while Kitty and Hyde continued to talk.

The little red-headed boy was sitting next to his mother. She appeared to be scolding him.

"Hey guys," Jackie said, sitting down by them. "Happy birthday, Craig."

He smiled. "Thanks, Aunt Jackie. Hi, Li."

Liam grinned at being acknowledged, then clung to his mother.

Donna looked at her best friend. "Craig decided it would be a good idea to unwrap his presents when nobody was watching." She raised her eyebrows at her son.

"I like my presents!" he said.

"Yeah, well, you still have ours to unwrap," Jackie offered. "You can do that after everything."

Craig's face fell. "I have to wait?"

Jackie nodded, laughing slightly.

Holly instantly ran to Daniel's basement once she got there, knowing that he and Alex were in the basement. She opened the door and saw that the lights were off.

"Guys?" she called down.

She kept the door open and ran down, afraid to be down in the dark. Once she got to the bottom of the steps, she felt herself being tackled by somebody covered in a blanket.

Holly laughed. "I knew you guys were down here. Get off of me!"

The lights turned on, and the guy under the sheet wasn't Daniel or Alex, but one of Danny's friends.

Danny walked out from a corner. "Did we scare you?"

"Not at all," Holly said. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Anthony," Daniel said, pointing to the friend who they had forced to tackle Holly.

"Hi," the boy responded shyly.

Holly just waved and turned back to her friends. "My brother has a girlfriend," she said, grinning.

"Liam or Davey?" Alex asked, laughing.

"Davey," Holly said, rolling her eyes. "I keep making fun of him, and he gets really embarrassed. It's so funny." She fixed her hair, which had gone flipped around. "What were you guys doing before I came down?"

"Trying to think of ways to scare you before you came." Danny raised his eyebrows.

"Stupid," Holly said, laughing. "Well, come on. Let's do something." She walked to the other side of the room and heard them whisper. "What?"

"Nothing," they said. "Let's play Hide and Seek."

"Okay. Only downstairs, though. And the lights have to be on." She raised her eyebrows.

"Sounds good," Alex said. "I'll be it."

As Alex counted, Holly found the lights being shut off anyway by Alex, but she didn't say anything, in fear that Alex would find her spot, which was in a closet. Not even a minute after, she heard the closet door being opened.

"Holly? You in here?" Danny whispered.

"Right here."

He stepped over toward her and shut the door quietly so his other friend wouldn't hear. "Guess what Anthony told us?"

"What?"

"He said that he likes you," Danny whispered.

Holly wrinkled her nose. "Ew. I don't even know him." She found it weird when boys at school liked her, but it came as no surprise to others. With her long and dark hair, blue eyes, and thin frame, most boys had a crush on her.

"I know. But shh, I think I hear Alex."

They were quiet for a few minutes, and heard Alex walking around in the dark. "I know where you guys are. You're... under this table! ...uh, never mind."

"This is gonna take forever," Holly whispered quietly to her best friend. Danny nodded in agreement, but she could barely see.

A few minutes later, Alex opened the closet door. Holly and Danny went as far back as they could, but Alex caught sight of the movement.

"Found you, Holly!" Alex shouted, pointing at the girl.

"That's not fair; Danny's right behind me!"

"Holly!" He hit her arm.

"Found you, too, Dan." Alex walked around. "Now I gotta find the other guy." He grinned and turned around. "Help me, Holly?"

"Shut up," she said. "Danny told me."

Alex just kept grinning and walked around to look for Anthony.

"I'm gonna go upstairs," Holly said, eager to get away. "I wanna see what our parents are doing."

Danny laughed. "You wanna get away from Anthony."

"Do not." She walked upstairs to see her parents. Her mother was sitting at the table while holding Liam and talking to her Aunt Donna, while her father was talking to her Uncle Eric. They were next to each other anyways, so Holly walked up to them.

"What's wrong, Holl?" her father asked once she approached them.

"Yeah, baby, why aren't you with your friends?" Jackie added.

Holly just shrugged. "I wanted to see what you guys were doing."

"Okay..." Jackie attempted to pull her daughter up next to her, but Holly refused.

"I'm not a baby, Mom," she snapped, sitting next to her father instead.

A loud crash was heard in the basement. "What were they, uh... doing down there, Holly?" Eric asked.

"Playing Hide and Seek."

"Huh." Eric leaned back in thought. "What could they have... oh no. My light saber!" He rushed downstairs.

Donna shook her head. "He's crazy. How could he forget that he leaves it under our bed?"

"Are you guys serious?" Jackie asked, then shook her head. "Wait, I don't care."

Hyde snaked an arm around his wife's waist; at her sudden outburst of what she was like as a teenager, he felt affectionate towards her.

Holly looked away in displeasure. She hated seeing her parents kiss and what not. "I'm bored."

"Then go play with your friends," Hyde told her.

Holly shrugged. "There's nothing to do with them either."

Hyde was about to respond when Eric returned.

"Holly, you can go downstairs. Just ignore the guy." Eric smiled.

"Wait," Jackie cut in. "What guy?"

"Danny's friend has a crush on Holly," Eric told them.

Jackie grinned and tried reaching out for her daughter. "Aw, baby-"

Holly cut her off. "Mom, get away!" she yelled, irritated with her mother as always.

Hyde started, "He'd better stay a-"

"You know, I shouldn't have said anything." Eric bit his lip.

Holly hid behind her father, ignoring Jackie's call to her.

"Come on, honey, it's okay," Jackie said. "Now you don't have to make fun of Davey."

"Shut /up/, Mom!" Holly yelled, still clinging onto Hyde.

"Leave her alone, Jacks," Hyde said, fending off his wife.

Jackie pouted, but listened.

"I'm going downstairs," Holly announced, eager to get away from the embarrassing situation.

Jackie clapped. "Good girl!"

"Moooom!" Holly yelled while going down the stairs.

Danny and Alex laughed as they saw their friend come downstairs. "Holly's back. Anthony, come here!"

Holly shot them a death glare. "You guys are idiots."

"Love you, too, Holl," Danny said, smiling sweetly as his friend appeared.

"I can't believe you guys," Anthony said. "You told her?"  
Holly looked away, embarrassed. She glanced quickly at Anthony. He was decent looking, but she just didn't like boys that way yet.

Danny and Alex proudly grinned, nodding.

"Well, I have to go anyway. My mom said she'd be here at four, so..." He quickly looked at Holly again.

"Bye." They all waved and he hesitated, then went upstairs. Once they heard the door shut, Alex and Danny laughed.

"He so wanted to kiss you!" Alex laughed, hardly breathing.

Danny giggled. "Holly, you shoulda went for it!"

She kicked both of them, a trick she had learned from her mother.

They both winced in pain. 


	16. Can't Get There From Here

It was the middle of eighth grade for Holly, which meant that it was the middle of Davey's senior year. Jackie could hardly stand to see her baby son growing up; it made her feel so old. What she hated the most, though, was when he disobeyed her, although that rarely happened. He was a good kid. However...

It was Friday night... well, technically Saturday morning, since it was two in the morning. Davey was just getting back from a party at a friend's.

Once she heard the door open, Jackie jumped up from her spot on the couch where she was half asleep next to her husband.

"Davey?" She rushed to the door.

"Yeah, Mom?" Davey stumbled into the doorway.

"Oh my God, Davey. You were supposed to be home two hours told you that before you left," Jackie scolded. "I was so worried!"

"God, Mom, I'm fine," Davey slurred and started walking up the stairs.

"Baby, are you okay? You're walking kind of... oh no. Honey, you're not /drunk/, are you?" she whispered.

"'Course not, Mom." Davey continued slowly going up the stairs.

"Yes, you are. Oh my God. I never thought you'd do this. I mean, I know teenagers drink, and one drink is fine, whatever. But to be drunk? I'm glad your father's not up." Jackie put a hand to her head. "David, I can't believe you did this."

"Mom, I'm fine. It was a party, Mom. I'm... fine." Davey struggled to think of the words. He could tell that his mother was really upset because she called him David. She never did that.

"What if Holly or Liam saw you?" Jackie asked, clearly upset.

"Mom," Davey started again.

"No, we'll talk about it in the morning. Just, go to bed." Jackie pointed upstairs.

Davey walked away and opened the door to what he thought was his room, only to open Holly's door. The lights were off, so he turned them on, scaring Holly half to death.

"What are you /doing/?" A now awake Holly asked.

"Sorry, Holl," Davey slurred again. "I thought this was... my room."

Jackie entered the room. "David, go to your bedroom, okay? Get some rest."

Davey stumbled out of the room and went to his own.

"What's /wrong/ with him?" Holly asked, yawning. "Wait... he was at a party, right? He's wasted."

"I can't believe that /my kid/ is drunk." Jackie shook her head. "It seems like he was just a little kid. How can he do this?"

"People grow up. Just like I am. But don't worry, Mom. I'm not a bad influence like my older brother is. Even though I'm only setting an example for one little sibling as opposed to two, I still follow the rules and act like a civilized young adult. You don't have to worry about me." Holly smiled sweetly.

"Yeah, sure." Jackie rolled her eyes sarcastically. "I'm more worried about you. You're a girl."

"Yeah, but Mom-"

"Holly, it's two in the morning. Let's just forget about this and go to bed. Your dad's gonna be pissed if he finds out that you and Davey were awake," Jackie said.

"Okay, night." Jackie shut off the lights again for her daughter and returned downstairs to wake up her husband, who was sleeping on the couch, so they both could go to bed.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

The next morning, Holly and Liam were eating breakfast at the table, when Davey came downstairs, yawning.

"Hm... did you hear anything... strange in the middle of the night, Liam? Like... people talking and stumbling around aimlessly?" Holly grinned at her older brother as she asked Liam this.

"Shut up, Holl," Davey muttered.

"Why?" she asked loudly. "Do you have a /headache/?"

"I don't get it," eight-year old Liam said, watching his older siblings fight.

"Let's just say that Davey had fun last night," Holly said, rolling her eyes.

"Ooookay?" Liam said questionably.

"Ignore her, Liam," Davey said, sitting down at the table. "Where's Mom and Dad?"

"They went to Aunt Donna's and Uncle Eric's," Liam answered.

"Yeah, they said we woke up too late," Holly put in.

"Meaning /you/," Liam added.

"Now you're taking her side, too? That's cool," Davey said sarcastically.

Liam rolled his eyes. "I really don't care." He stood up and took his plate to the sink. "I've gotta get ready. I'm meeting Abby at the mall later."

"Who?" Holly and Davey said in unison.

"My girlfriend..." Liam said as though it was obvious, then walked away.

"Well... wow. He got his first girlfriend early. At least... I'm hoping that's his first." Holly looked uneasily after her little brother.

"Yeah. And going to the mall alone? At eight years old? He's out of his mind if he thinks Mom'll let him do that," Davey agreed.

"I dunno. He seems to be the odd one out of the three of us. And the favorite." Holly scowled.

"He's not the... well, he is the youngest..." Davey trailed off.

"See?" Holly said, raising her eyebrows, then walked off to get her shoes on. "I'm walking to Aunt Donna's."

"Not without me, you aren't," Davey said. "That's a decent walk."

"I've done it before. I'll be fine." Holly rolled her eyes at her brother.

"No. I wanna go, too, anyway. Lemme just go get Liam." Davey ran off into the hall to get his brother. He appeared back with Liam at his side.

"You'd better give me a ride to the mall in an hour if you're making me go," Liam said.

"Sure, whatever," Davey said. They all went outside and got into Davey's car.

Davey started it and they pulled out. "So Liam... a girlfriend? Already?"

Liam casually nodded. "Thought you knew."

Davey shook his head. "She your first?"

"No," he simply said.

Holly burst out laughing. "You're kidding me. You're eight."

"Yeah? You're thirteen and you don't have a boyfriend," Liam snapped.

"Shut up!" Holly said. "I like someone."

"We don't need to know that, Holl," Davey said.

"Whatever, just keep on driving." Holly crossed her arms. "And don't tell Dad I said that, Li."

"Said what?" Liam asked.

"That I like someone..." Holly muttered, as though it were obvious.

"Uh, okay."

They got to Eric and Donna's and walked in the door. Jackie immediately rushed to them. "What are you doing here?"

"They wanted to come," Liam said. "I'm gonna go find Craig." He ran off to find his one year older friend.

Eric walked in the room. "Hey look, it's Boozin' Billy!" He pointed at Davey.

"Shut up, Eric," Donna said, slapping his arm.

"Great, Mom. You told everybody." Davey rolled his eyes as he sat down.

"Yeah, and you deserved worse," Jackie commented.

"Mom, I'm almost eighteen. I was fine. You should have seen some of the other kids!" Davey insisted.

"I don't care, David. You're my baby," Jackie said, pulling Davey unwillingly toward her.

Donna smiled. "I can't even get my nine year old to do that anymore."

Davey pulled away. "Is Dad downstairs?"

"Why, are you gonna split a beer with him or something?" Jackie jokingly inquired.

"Shut up. Is he?" Davey asked again.

"Yes, he is."

"Okay, well I'm gonna go downstairs with him and Uncle Eric." Davey headed in the basement and saw his dad and uncle watching something on TV.

"Heyyy, if it isn't the little drinker boy!" Hyde called, raising his can of beer in the air.

"Oh my God, is anyone gonna let this go?" Davey asked, and sat down.

Eric sat down next to him. "I think your dad is currently a little drunk," he whispered into Davey's ear. "Must run in the family." He grinned at his nephew, who lightly kicked him.

"Who knew that one slip could get you made fun of numerous times?" Davey asked.

"Come on, you're with us. You're obviously gonna get made fun of!" Eric said lightly, then his tone changed. "Thinking back, though, I bet you haven't done half of the stuff we all did when we were younger."

"Really?" Davey asked. "What kind of stuff did you do?"

Eric took a deep breath. "There was this one time when your Aunt Donna convinced me to skip class. We wound up driving around with your dad and Uncle Michael, and we found a keg in the middle of the road, just outta nowhere. So we decided to have a party in the bottom of an empty pool at this vacant house. We got caught -we always did- but it was one of our 'classic' stories."

"You guys all sound like you always had a lot of fun," Davey said. "Everytime you guys tell me a story, I wind up wishing I lived in the seventies."

"They were a fun time, Dave," Eric agreed as he noticed his son walking down the stairs. "What are you doing, Danny?"

Danny was a skinny, tall, brown haired boy who could easily have been mistaken for thirteen year old Eric. The similarities were definitely noticed among most people.

"Finding out what you guys are doing," Danny said. "Holly's no fun right now; she just wants to hang with Mom and Aunt Jackie."

"Holly wants to be with her mom?" Hyde asked. "That's a first."

"Is Uncle Fez coming over later?" Danny asked.

"I think he might. Why?" Eric asked.

"I want Alex to come over. I'm really bored."

"Why don't you just call him and see?" Eric said, pointing to the phone.

"Yeah, I guess I will," Danny said and walked to the phone.

Ten minutes later, Alex came over. Now, Danny, Alex, and Holly were sitting in Dan's room.

"Man, being thirteen totally sucks," Danny commented. "There's nothing to do, you can't drive for three more years, and you're still in junior high."

"Yeah, and adults think you're too young for everything," Alex added.

"I know. They won't let you go to any parties or anything!" Holly agreed.

"Parties?" Danny asked. "No. Not me. I don't even get invited. I was ta-"

"I know!" Alex interrupted Danny. "It's like, I got invited to this party last weekend by Stella Pearson, who's like the hottest chick in our grade, and my mom wouldn't let me go! It's so lame."

"It sucks! That /always/ happens to me," Holly sympathized.

Danny looked away. He always felt a little out of place with his two best friends, like the oddball. With Holly's beauty and charm, it was no wonder she was one of the most popular girls in their grade. And Alex's deep voice and good looks made him a girl magnet most of the time. Danny was just Danny, the tall, skinny guy.

"Hey guys, mind talking about something I /can/ relate to?" Danny asked.

"You get invited to parties, Danny. You got invited to Andrew's!" Holly said.

"Yeah, because you made him invite me, because he was your boyfriend at the time," Dan reminded her.

"Yeah, well..." Holly scrunched her nose in thought. "Well, whatever. Parties are lame anyway."

"That's not what you guys were saying before. But, okay." Danny sighed.

Then, Alex started talking about something else. Dan wasn't listening though.

He kept thinking about how he didn't fit in with either of them. He knew that if all of their parents weren't friends, then they wouldn't either. It just made him feel sad.  



	17. Angels or Devils

More than a year later, Jackie and Hyde were at Donna and Eric's house, along with their kids.

Jackie, Hyde, Donna, and Eric were sitting on the couch. In Craig's room, he and Liam were playing. And Danny and Holly were in the basement, with Davey and his girlfriend Natalie.

"Too bad Alex isn't here," Danny remarked, as he and Holly sat on the couch, watching TV.

"Yeah, this is pretty boring," Holly agreed as she glanced over at her brother and Natalie, all the way on the opposite side of the basement.

"My birthday's in two weeks," Danny said, shrugging.

"Really?" Holly asked. "Lucky. But yeah, then it'll be my birthday, right after."

They both knew these things about each other, obviously. They were just excited to be turning seventeen.

On the other side of the basement, Davey and Natalie sat in chairs almost out of the eyesights of Holly and Dan.

"Dave, you know I'm going away in less than a week," Natalie said quietly.

"I know." Davey looked down and shrugged. "What am I supposed to do about it?"

Natalie gave him a look. "College is important. You could be going with me. You got accepted, and for some reason you're choosing to stay here. Don't you love me?" She looked sad as she pushed her long hair out of her eyes.

"You know I do, Nat," he said. "I'm just not ready to leave home yet. I've got a job here, and my entire family. Michigan seems so far away."

"You'd have me." She sighed and looked at him. "I don't want to go without you."

"Then don't go," Davey simply said.

"I can't not go. This is my future. It's not easy for me to go either, but I'm gonna. And you could, too," Natalie said, pushing for him to go.

"Natalie..." Davey started to say, until Natalie cut him off.

"Whatever. Obviously you don't care enough about me to be with me. Bye." She got up and started to walk up the stairs.

"Nat!" He got up and ran after her.

Holly looked back and heard her brother yell. "Huh. Wonder what's going on back there."

"Yeah," Danny said, then looked back at the TV and sighed.

Back by the stairs, Davey grabbed Natalie's arm before she could go up the stairs.

"What." Her voice was flat as she turned around.

"I love you," Davey said. "I don't want you to go. Stay here, at least for now."

Natalie couldn't help but smile. "I love you, too, Dave. And we'll talk about this later, okay? Let's just sit back down."

"Okay." Davey smiled as he kissed her, then they walked back to the chairs.

Holly and Danny, who were still watching TV, sighed in unison.

"When did we stop having fun together?" Holly asked. "This is so boring."

"Probably once we outgrew toys. TV isn't fun," Danny said. "Then, what do people our age do for fun?"

Holly thought, then grinned. "They party!"

Dan raised his eyebrows. He wasn't a partying type of guy.

"Oh come on, Dan. Cynthia Hackel is having a party /right now/ and we could be there! My mom'll let us go!" Holly persuaded.

"Cynthia Hackel?" Dan asked skeptically. "I don't know. She's kind of a bitch. She probably wouldn't want me at her party anyway."

"Who cares? If you're with me, you'll be fine. Pleeeease, Danny?" Holly begged.

He sighed. "Fine."

"Yay!" She jumped up from the couch, and started to run up the stairs, past her brother and his girlfriend. "Dan, are you coming?"

"Yup." Dan followed her up the stairs.

A half hour later, Holly and Dan were on their way to the party.

Holly was driving her car, and Dan was in the passenger seat.

"Please don't make me do this," Dan said.

"Oh, you'll love it," Holly said. "It'll be fun."

Once they arrived, Holly split immediately. Dan just sat around, watching tons of people drink and do stupid stuff.

These were not his type of people. These were the type of people who used to make fun of him when he was fourteen and his voice hadn't quite deepened yet. These were the people who called him Scrawny Danny in sixth grade. These were the people who now ignored him.

After fifteen minutes of standing there, Holly approached him.

"Come on, Danny," she said. "Find something to do. Have a drink!" She handed him hers.

"Uh, if you're drinking, then I probably shouldn't, since I'll have to drive," Dan pointed out.

"Silly, I can still drive. I'm not gonna get wasted," Holly said.

"Holl, I don't think-" Dan was cut off by some asshole named Rob who was in his French class last year.

"Holly, come outside with me, on the porch," he said.

"Why?" she asked.

"I wanna tell you something." He grinned at her.

Dan gave him a look, and Rob glared back at him.

Dan started, "Hey, buddy, I don't think you should-"

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I taking your girlfriend away from you?" Rob sneered. "Yeah, right."

"Dan, it's fine. I'm friends with Rob," Holly said. Then she grabbed another drink and walked away to the porch with Rob.

"What's up with that faggot?" Rob asked.

"Dan?" Holly asked. "Oh, he's like my best friend. We've known each other since we were really little."

Rob snorted. "You're way too good to be friends with him." He got closer to her.

"So, what did you want to tell me?" Holly asked.

"I wanted you to know that you're beautiful." Rob got closer, and slipped a hand behind her back, dropping a pill in her drink.

Holly smiled, not noticing what he did. "Are you gonna kiss me?"

"Hell yeah, I'm gonna kiss you." Rob leaned in and started heavily making out with Holly.

Dan glanced on the porch and felt sick. Holly was too good for those types of guys. Assholes like Rob just wanted one thing. She needed something better than that. However, there wasn't much he could do about it.

He had noticed his ex-girlfriend Emily talking to some guy, but he didn't want to talk to her. He saw a girl from his English class that he had talked to a few times and approached her.

"Hey, Evelyn," he said as he got her attention.

"Hi." She smiled. "Dan, isn't it?"

He sighed. "Yeah. I'm just... I came here with a friend, and she left me, so I thought I'd talk to you."

"So I'm a last resort, huh?" she asked, winking. "No, I'm just kidding. Come on; sit down."

They sat on the couch together. Evelyn smiled at Dan.

She was prettier than he remembered. She had her blonde hair cut above her shoulders, and smiling eyes.

"So who's your friend?" she asked.

Dan cleared his throat. "Holly Hyde."

Evelyn raised her eyebrows and made a sour face. "Really?"

"Yup." Dan nodded. "I'm assuming you don't like her."

"Not really," Evelyn said, standing up. "But hey, I'm gonna grab a drink. I'll grab you one, too, okay?"

"Well, I-" Dan stopped and thought. He didn't want to seem lame by saying no, especially in front of this girl. "Okay."

He was on his second drink when Evelyn stood up and started dancing with another guy.

Dan felt disappointed. He actually thought he might have a chance with this girl.

Then, he saw Rob out of the corner of his eye, carrying Holly upstairs.

Feeling anger shoot through him, he bravely ran after him.

"Rob!" he called.

Rob turned around. "You got something to say, kid?"

"Put her down. She's drunk; she doesn't know what she's doing," Dan said.

"That's the beauty of it," Rob said from the top of the stairs.

Dan ran up the staircase. "That's immoral, you know that? You really think she wants to have sex with you?" he asked.

"Well, why wouldn't she?" Rob asked. "She did before."

Dan's eyes widened. "That's not true. She wouldn't do that."

"Hey kid, news flash. She's done it with everyone," Rob said as they approached a room. He put Holly on the bed and stood up, facing Dan.

"You're a fucking liar," Dan said, seething. "Don't talk about her that way."

"Really?" Rob sneered. "What're you gonna do about it?"

Feeling brave, Dan pulled back and appeared to be walking away. Then, he turned around and punched Rob in the face.

"Aw, you little bitch!" Rob punched back. They continued to fight for nearly a minute until they heard movement on the bed.

"What's goin' on?" Holly's lethargic voice sounded.

"Holly." Dan rushed to her, despite his injuries. "Let's go home, okay?"

She nodded and giggled. "I'm tired," she said, still laying down.

Dan started to walk to the bed, to help her up, when Rob grabbed his arm.

"This isn't over, punk." Then, he shoved past him and left the room.

Holly laughed. "He's a dick."

"Yeah," Dan said seriously. "You're really drunk, Holly."

"No, I'm not." Then, she giggled. "Yeah, I am."

Dan nodded and sat by her on the bed to rest for a moment.

"You've got cuts and bruises all over your face," Holly observed. "Why?"

"Rob and I were fighting," Dan explained.

"For me?" Holly drunkenly giggled.

"No. Well, kinda. I'll explain later," Dan said. "But we should go."

He helped her off the bed and supported her down the stairs, and into the car.

"Give me your keys, Holl," he said. "We're going to my house. Your parents are probably home already, and they'll think you're spending the night here. Just stay at my house and my parents will understand."

"Sleepover!" Holly clapped as she handed her purse to Dan.

He sighed, feeling disappointed in her, and found the keys. He started the car, and started driving.

"You look sad, Danny," Holly said. "Why?"

"I'm not sad, really. I just didn't have a good time tonight, and I know you didn't either," Dan said.

"I had a good time," Holly insisted, slurring. "I love parties."

"Yeah, well, you won't remember it tomorrow," Dan said.

It was quiet for a few minutes. Then, Holly broke the silence.

"Did you punch Rob?" she asked as they pulled into the driveway.

Dan nodded.

"Why?"

"Because he was being an ass to you."

"I don't remember," Holly said, sounding confused. "But thanks, Danny. You're my best friend. You know I love you." She smiled at him, her glazed eyes shining.

"I know. I love you, too, Holl." He sighed.

Then, Holly leaned over and kissed him, right on the lips.

Dan kissed back for a moment, then realized what he was doing. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Nooo."

"What's wrong, Danny?" Holly asked. "Don't you like kissing me?"

"You're drunk, Holly. You don't mean it," Dan said.

"Did you drink?" she asked.

"A little," Dan admitted.

"Then you don't mean that." She pointed at him and smiled.

Dan opened the door and sighed. What the hell just happened?

He opened Holly's door for her. "Come on, Holl."

She got out, and nearly fell over. Dan helped her maintain her stance, and then Holly hung onto him.

"Thanks for going tonight, Danny." She smiled at him.

"Yeah, well... it wasn't worth it," Dan said, almost laughing at his misfortune that night.

"I know." Holly smiled and they walked inside.


	18. Don't Wanna Cry

Clearly, Dan wasn't looking very carefully, because when he walked in, he realized that the Hydes were still there. Apparently they all were staying the night, because Jackie and Hyde had drank a little bit and didn't want to drive.

However, only Davey was up when they got home. Obviously, Natalie had gone home for the night.

"Dan?" Dave asked when he walked in. "You're back late, huh?"

"Yeah." Dan nodded as he brought Holly in.

"She didn't stay?" Dave asked, pointing at his sister.

"Ohhh no," Dan said.

"Davey!" Holly smiled at her brother.

Davey looked closer. "Is she okay?" Then his face got angry. "Is she drunk?"

Dan sighed. "Yeah."

"Yeah, but don't tell Mom or Dad!" Holly said loudly.

"Shhh!" Dan whispered.

Davey rolled his eyes. "Holly, here." He picked her up and carried her to Dan's room, upstairs, past where their parents were sleeping in the living room. Dan followed.

Davey set her down on Dan's bed and sat on the floor next to his sister. "Do you need anything, Holl?"

"Sleeeep," she murmured.

"Okay, Holl, we'll go." Dave gently patted her head and stood up, next to Dan. "We'll sleep in the basement, and I've gotta talk to you."

"Okay," Dan said, following Davey down the two flights of stairs.

"Finally." Dave flicked on a light, then looked at Dan. "Oh wow. What happened to your face?"

"Fighting with some douche that tried to rape your sister," Dan said. "That's what happened, long story short."

Dave's face grew angry. "What?"

"Holly was drunk, and they were on the back porch talking, and something must've happened. Then I saw him carrying her upstairs, and she looked like the was nearly passed out, and I followed him up there and started to yell at him. He wouldn't listen, and I punched him. Then we just started fighting, and Holly woke up. Then he left." Dan left out the little kissing bit.

"That fucking asshole'd better stay away from my sister," Davey said angrily. "I'm gonna kill him."

"I wanted to," Dan said.

"Well..." Davey trailed off. "Thanks for looking out for her, Dan. I'm sure she'll appreciate it, and I sure do. She can always count on you, no matter what."

"Yup." Dan nodded, then got on the couch. "Well, good night."

"Night," Dave said, and shut off the light.

But Dan couldn't sleep. After an hour or so had passed, he figured he should check on Holly. He didn't want her to puke, or aimlessly walk around or something.

He silently went up the stairs and opened his bedroom door. She was peacefully sleeping.

Dan went into the bathroom and got a bucket for her, and a glass of water with some aspirin.

He lightly shook her. "Holly," he whispered.

"Hmmm," she mumbled.

"Wake up, and take these," Dan said, handing her the pills.

She took them, and thanked him, still lethargic.

"And there's a bucket next to you if you feel sick," Dan added.

"Thanks, Danny," Holly said slowly, smiling.

"Okay, good night." He left the room and went back to the basement, then fell asleep.

Less than four hours later, Dan woke up due to his mother.

"Danny," she said, gently shaking him.

Dan rolled over and slowly opened his eyes.

"Dan, I have to talk to you," Donna tried again.

"Mmm, what?" He sat up sleepily.

"Come upstairs with me and talk. Only Jackie and I are up, so be quiet," Donna said.

Danny stood up, quietly stepping past Dave, who was still sleeping, and walked upstairs.

"Sit," Donna ordered, pointing towards the kitchen table.

Dan did as he was told. Then, his mother and Jackie sat down, too.

"So, what exactly happened last night?" Donna asked.

"Nothing. Why?" Dan asked.

Donna raised her eyebrows. "Well, we were wondering why Holly's asleep in your room with a barf bucket, and why you're covered in bruises."

"Well..." Dan ended up telling them the whole story, minus the kiss.

Hyde had woken up in the middle of the story, so he made Dan retell it.

He was furious. About fifteen minutes later, Holly emerged from the staircase, with her hand pressed up against her head.

"I have the worst headache ever," she said dramatically but quietly. "Daddy, I think I'm sick." She looked up at her father for some sympathy.

"Holly, you're grounded. Forever. You aren't leaving the house, except for school, which I will drive you to. And, if your mom and I have to go somewhere, you're going with us. You're never gonna be alone, understood?" Hyde gave his daughter a serious look.

"Why, Daddy?" Holly looked between her mom and dad, acting confused.

"You know damn well why," Hyde said, causing Holly to start crying and holding her head even more.

Jackie swooped in. "Now Steven, you know it's not her fault."

"Well, if she hadn't been drinking, this would have never happened," Hyde said angrily.

"What happened?" Holly asked. She didn't remember much from the night before.

Hyde ignored her. "She can't be trusted. She's gonna get hurt, and there'll be nothing we can do about it."

"Steven," Jackie said, touching his shoulder lightly. "She couldn't-"

"Yeah, she could," Hyde interrupted, moving away from his wife.

Holly's teary eyes grew wide. "Danny? Come in the basement with me."

"Good. I can't even look at you right now," Hyde muttered.

Jackie slapped his arm. "Steven!"

Hyde just shook his head and left the room.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"My dad's never been mad at me before," Holly said, still crying. "At least not like this. I just wish I could remember what happened. I mean, obviously I did more than get drunk."

"Actually, you really didn't," Dan said.

Holly gave him a confused look. "Explain it to me."

Danny, yet again, repeated the story. "Then I punched him, and we just started fighting. Then you woke up, and we left."

Holly's eyes widened. "Rob's an asshole. I hate him so much."

"Yeah," Dan agreed. "And, there's something he said that kinda bothered me."

"What's that?" she asked.

"He said that you've slept with him before," Dan said. "And a lot of guys."

Holly shook her head. "That's not true. That's not true at all."

"That's what I said," Dan explained. Then, he hesitated. "Have you had sex before at all?"

Holly shrugged, and slowly nodded. "But only with Charlie."

Dan nodded. Charlie had been her boyfriend for about nine months.

"My dad hates me." Holly looked down.

"No, he doesn't. He'll get over it. It really wasn't your fault," Dan said.

"Well, thanks, Danny. You're my best friend." Holly smiled.

"I know, Holl." Dan smiled back, then his face grew serious. "There's another thing that happened, too."

"Something I should be worried about? Is it another reason why my dad is mad at me?" Holly asked.

"No," Dan said. "I mean, they don't know about it."

"Okay," Holly said warily. "Well, tell me."

Dan sighed. "You, um. Well, you kissed me last night."

Holly's face looked shocked. "Wait, so I-"

"What?" a voice sounded from the other side of the basement. Dan clearly forgot that Davey was sleeping down there.

"Oh my God," Holly muttered.

Dave ran over to them. "You guys kissed?"

"I didn't know. I mean, I don't remember," Holly said.

Dan nodded. "I know."

"Well, what exactly happened?" Holly asked.

Dan shrugged. "We were in the car, and then... I don't know. And when I pulled away, you asked why I did, and I said you didn't mean it."

Holly looked surprised. "I can't believe that."

"Yeah, well," Dan said, "I'm gonna go upstairs."

Davey sat by his sister, giving her a look. "You're in big trouble, huh?"

Holly looked down and started to cry. "I don't know what I'm gonna do, Davey."

Davey reached out and hugged her, trying to comfort her.

She kept crying. "You don't even understand how mad Dad is."

"Oh, I can imagine," Dave said.

"It's not fair. You never got in trouble when you came home drunk," Holly sniffed.

Dave nodded. "I guess not."

Holly wiped her eyes. "I can't believe I kissed Dan." She laughed a little. "That's so weird. I mean, I never even thought-"

"You know," Davey said, "they say that one expresses their true feelings when drunk at times."

"So you think I have feelings for Dan?" Holly asked, and Dave nodded. "No way. That was just, me being drunk."

Dave shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Think about it."

Holly rolled her eyes at her brother. "Whatever. Let's just go upstairs."

"Alright. And hey, I'll talk to Dad for you, okay?" Dave asked.

"Sure. Thanks, Dave." She smiled at her brother and walked upstairs, with Davey following her.

When they got upstairs, Hyde was still ignoring his daughter. Jackie was trying to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen.

Liam asked Holly what was going on, and she just started crying again.

Jackie sighed. "We should probably just go home."

"No," Donna said. "I mean, Fez and Alex are gonna be here later. Stay, and we all can talk this out."

"Alright." Jackie sat by Liam. "How're you doing, baby?"

Liam shrugged. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Jackie said. "Just... Holly went to a party last night and drank a little bit."

Liam shook his head and laughed. "So I'm the only one in the family who hasn't come home drunk now?"

Jackie slightly laughed. "I guess so."

Hyde walked in the living room, and Jackie quickly stood up. "Steven."

"Jackie, it's fine. Dave just talked to me. I just need time... to think," Hyde said.

"Okay. Good." She walked over and kissed him, then walked into the kitchen to see Davey and Holly sitting at the table, talking.

"You're so sweet." Jackie walked up to Davey and patted his shoulder. "How did you get to him and I couldn't?"

"Because, Mom," Davey explained. "I have persuading powers."

Jackie rolled her eyes and smiled. "Holly, you're lucky to have a good brother like Davey."

"Hey, what about me?" Liam complained jokingly as he walked into the kitchen.

"You're lucky to have a brother like Liam, too." Jackie smiled.

"I know," Holly said, smiling at her brothers. "Thanks, Davey. And you too, I guess, Liam. Even though you didn't do anything." She laughed slightly.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Later on, the Hyde family was back at home. The kids were watching TV or playing games on the computer. Jackie and Hyde were getting ready for bed.

"I can't believe that asshole tried to... ugh." Hyde looked super pissed.

"I know, honey," Jackie said, hoping to calm him down about the situation. "But, she's okay. It never happened, and Dan hurt him for you."

"I could mess him up, Jackie," Hyde said, clenching his fists.

"I know you could, baby." Jackie sat beside him on the bed. "That's illegal, though. So you can't."

"Yeah, but if I could..." He laid down on his back.

Jackie sighed. "At least it's all over with."

"No, Jacks. Holly's never going to school again. Not there. We've gotta pull her out... no, we're gonna home school her." Hyde seemed determined to keep his daughter out of harm.

"Steven, you know that we're both not able to do that." Jackie laughed. "You're being overprotective of her, and it's sweet, but she's gotta learn to live. She's smart, honey. She'll manage."

"Jackie, she's just like you. She won't be able to manage. Do you know how many guys would have taken advantage of you if I weren't around all the time?" Hyde rolled his eyes. "I've always gotta watch out for you two."

"Yeah, well you have help from your two sons, also. Don't forget that. And Holly and I are big girls, we can take care of ourselves," Jackie said.


	19. The Nearness of You

That Christmas, the entire old gang was going to be in town. Everyone was excited. Red and Kitty always had everyone over, despite their old age.

Eric and Donna got there first, in order to help out, and the kids and a tray of food. Normally, Kitty would cater the whole party, but with her old age, she was more forgetful and got more tired easily, so everybody decided to chip in a little bit.

"Hi, boys!" Kitty exclaimed, opening the door and her arms, wide as can be. The boys went to their grandmother, giving her a hug. Kitty smiled as she let go, and looked at her son and Donna. Then, she noticed the tray of food. "What is that?" she asked.

"It's... casserole, Mom," Eric said gently. "We all said we'd bring a dish, remember?"

"Of course I remember," Kitty snapped. "But it looks so... gooey. Donna made it, didn't she?"

"Mom-" Eric protested as Donna cut in.

"As a matter of fact, I did," she said sharply, "I made it last week for dinner one night. And it's damn good. Right boys?"

"Right, Mom," Craig chimed.

"Damn good," Dan repeated, smirking.

"And there's another infamous smartmouth, eh?" Red said, walking into the living room.

"Hi, Grandpa," Dan said, smiling so he wouldn't get in trouble.

"I couldn't be mad at you, Danny Boy," Red said, grinning. "Come 'ere, boys."

He went and hugged his grandfather, as did Craig.

"Daddy, why didn't you hug me when I was little?" Eric joked in a small voice.

Red looked up at his son, raising his eyebrows. "My theory is, punish your children; spoil your grandkids so they're ten times worse for your children." He smirked at Eric.

Eric rolled his eyes. "No foot in ass jokes?"

"Eric, don't say the 'ass' word in front of your kids," Red ordered, then lightened up. "Casserole, huh?"

Dan smiled. "Yep, and it's dam-"

"Daniel, enough," Donna said, holding up a hand. "What time did everybody else say they'd be here?"

"Soon. They all said around three, and it's a quarter to three already," Kitty informed them.

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. "Eric, honey, could you get that?" Kitty asked.

"Sure thing, Mom," Eric said, opening the door. It was the Hyde family.

"Hey," Eric said casually, going to hug Hyde and kiss Jackie on the cheek. Normally the Formans saw them quite a bit, but they hadn't seen each other that much lately.

Right after that, the Kelsos showed up, for the first time in a long time.

First, there was Michael Kelso. He still looked very handsome, but was still dumb as can be. Then, in walked his wife Suzy Kelso. The two worked at the police department together, and somehow fell in love many years before.

Next was Betsy, Kelso's twenty-two year-old daughter. She was tall, with brown hair. She was incredibly smart, but had recently done something stupid...

Next was Michael and Suzy's son, Julian. He was sixteen, the same age as Dan and Holly, and he was very good-looking, just like his father.. He had shaggy brown hair and a perfect smile. He was smarter than his father, however, he did stupid things quite a bit.

The last time Holly had seen him, she had quite a crush on him. However, something had been stuck on her mind for a while. Or rather, someone.

As everyone went to say their hellos, everyone noticed something strange.

"Betsy! Oh, look how beautiful you are." Jackie smiled at the young woman, then looked down and frowned. Did she look pregnant?

"Thanks, Miss Jackie," Betsy responded, not noticing Jackie's slight frown.

Jackie ran over to Kelso. "Michael!" She lowered her voice. "Is Betsy... pregnant?"

"Oh. Yeah!" Kelso said. "At least she's older than I was when she was born!"

Jackie raised an eyebrow. "Oh, alright. How far along is she?"

"Twenty-two," Kelso said.

"Michael," Jackie started to say, about to correct him. "Never mind."

"Alright!" Kelso ran to join his wife, who was talking to Donna.

Holly went straight to the basement when she got there, after saying hello to everybody. She liked the basement. It felt cozy to her.

She walked around for a minute before finding a tiny room in the side of the basement. It was cold and filled with cobwebs. There was a little bed on the side, and there were a few photo albums on the bed, along with a few tiny tapes.

She went to open one up when she saw a shadow in the doorway. She turned around and saw her father standing there.

"What're you doing down here?" she asked.

Hyde smiled. "Thought I'd take a trip down memory lane. This was my old room."

"Really?" Holly made a weird face. "It's kind of small."

Hyde nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but it was better than nothing."

"Why did you live here when you were younger?" Holly asked.

"Well," Hyde began, "my parents weren't the best. They kind of left me, and Mr. and Mrs. Forman took me in."

Holly raised her eyebrows. "I never knew that."

"Yup." Hyde nodded.

"I guess I'm pretty lucky to have you and Mom," Holly said.

Hyde smiled. "I guess so."

"I wanna look at these," Holly said, pointing to the albums.

"I don't remember those," Hyde said. He picked one up and opened it.

There was millions of pictures of him and the gang, from ages three to twenty.

Hyde smiled. "Look at this." He pointed to a picture of himself and Eric when they were around six or seven.

"Is that you and Uncle Eric?" Holly asked.

Hyde nodded. "Yup."

He flipped past a picture of the whole gang when they were around seventeen. Hyde was sitting in his chair in the basement, Kelso was on the couch with Jackie on his lap, Donna and Eric were sitting next to each other on the couch, and Kelso and Fez were trying to share the other chair.

"Why's Mom on Mr. Kelso's lap?" Holly asked.

"Oh, they were dating at the time," Hyde said. "Yup, then I took her from him." He grinned.

Holly couldn't help but laugh a little bit at her father's smile.

"She was probably your age when this picture was taken," Hyde said. "You look exactly like her, you know."

Holly shrugged. "I guess so." She looked closer at the picture. "Dan looks exactly like Uncle Eric did."

"Yeah, he does," Hyde agreed. "We've always said that."

After looking at more pictures for a while, Hyde and Holly decided to go upstairs.

"Holly found pictures downstairs," Hyde told Jackie. "Check them out in a little bit."

Jackie smiled at her husband. "Alright."

Dan walked up to Holly. "There you are. I've been trying to find you."

Holly awkwardly laughed. "Oh. Sorry. I was in the basement."

"Oh, okay. Wanna go back down? It's kinda hectic up here," Dan said.

"Sure." Holly nodded, and they went downstairs.

Ever since that day that she had talked to Davey about her kissing Dan, she'd felt weird around him. As though she might possibly may have feelings for him. Luckily, Dan was oblivious. It just seemed so strange to even think of it happening. She had known him all of her life, and although they were close, it was like they were worlds apart in some ways. It wasn't right. It wouldn't make sense.

"Holly?" Dan asked, and Holly jumped.

"Sorry," she said. "I was... thinking. What did you say?"

Dan gave her a weird look. "I said, have you talked to Julian?"

"Oh." Holly blinked. "No, I haven't."

"Okay, because I remember he had a crush on you last year." Dan laughed. "Thought you might be interested."

"Oh, no." Holly laughed absentmindedly, then sat down on the couch, where Dan was. "It's so weird how our parents used to spend all the time down here. And it looks exactly the same."

Dan nodded. "I guess." Then he turned to face her. "So what's up? I haven't talked to you in a while."

"Yeah, I know. It's weird." Holly thought. "Nothing really. What about you?"

"Well, I've been talking to this one girl from school." He smiled. "You might know her. Her name's Kim."

"Kim Rockwell?" Holly asked.

Dan nodded. "Yeah." He smiled shyly.

"Oh." Holly raised her eyebrows. "Wow."

Dan got a worried look on his face. "What?"

"Oh, nothing." Holly shook her head. "She seems nice, I guess."

"Yeah, she's pretty cool." Dan smiled. "She's the second girl I've ever really liked."

"Who's the first?" Holly asked.

"Emily," Dan said as though it were obvious. "Remember, we dated last year."

"Oh, yeah." Holly nodded as Julian came downstairs.

"'Sup, guys," he said, sitting on the chair.

Holly raised her eyebrows, and decided to try flirting a little bit. "Nothin'. It's been awhile since I've seen you." She smiled.

"Yeah, I know," Julian said, grinning. "S'nice to see you. And you too, Dan."

"Yup." Dan nodded. "You, too."

Holly moved over to the end of the couch, closer to Julian. "So, do you have a girlfriend?"

Julian shrugged. "Nope. You got a guy?"

"Not at the moment." Holly flirtily smiled.

Julian smiled back, and Holly felt Dan elbow her in the ribs.

"What?" she whispered.

"What're you doing?" he asked quietly.

She raised an eyebrow. "I don't know."

"I thought you didn't like him?" Dan asked.

Holly shrugged, then went back to talking with Julian.

A few minutes later, Alex came downstairs and joined them.

"Alex!" Dan jumped up, eager to get away from Holly and Julian's flirting.

"Dan!" Alex grinned at his best friend. "Holl!"

Holly got up and hugged Alex, then sat back down.

"And..." Alex eyed Julian. "Julian, right?"

Julian nodded. "Yup."

"Sweet." Alex raised his eyebrows, then turned to Danny.

"I've gotta tell you about this one girl, man," Dan said, grinning at Alex.

Alex gave Dan a surprised look. "Alright, go ahead."

Holly and Julian started talking as Alex and Dan struck up their conversation. Holly was speaking louder than normal, trying to block out Dan's words.

Dan gave Holly a weird look, but continued talking.

After a while, Julian ended up going upstairs for something, and Dan took the opportunity to talk to Holly.

"What's up with you?" Dan asked, approaching Holly. Alex eagerly joined and soon they were cornering their friend.

Holly let out a dramatic sigh. "Nothing!"

"You know, something does seem to be up with her," Alex commented. Then, he smiled menacingly. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Holly has a little crush."

Holly's eyes widened. "No! I don't!"

Dan gave her a knowing look. "Then what's with all of this flirting with him, Holl?"

"It's just... I'm bored," Holly said quickly.

"So, don't lead the poor guy on," Alex said with a chuckle.

"I'm not!" Holly declared defensively. "Whatever, I'm going upstairs."

Dan rolled his eyes. He was used to her fits. "Holl."

"No, shut /up/!" Holly disappeared up the stairs.

"Damn," Alex said. "What a freak."

"She sure can be," Dan said. "Wanna hear something crazy?"

Alex shrugged. "Sure."

"She kissed me one night," Dan said. "Don't tell anyone."

Alex gave him a look of disbelief. "She kissed /you/?"

His friend's shock was not lost on Dan. "Oh, thanks," he remarked sarcastically. "And if this is a better explanation, she was drunk."

"Well..." Alex trailed off. "What did you do?"

Dan shrugged. "Nothing. I just kind of pulled away. It wasn't long. And then I ignored it."

"Huh." Alex paused, thinking. "Damn, she's weirdly broken this bond we all have. I mean, her and I 'went out' like two years ago, and then she kissed you?"

"Whatever, man," Dan said, looking elsewhere. "I mean, I don't think she remembers. I mentioned it to her, just so she'd be aware. But I think it's best if we just never speak of it again. It's weird."

"I guess." Alex raised his eyebrows. "There's probably tons of guys at your school that wish they had that experience, though."

"Yeah, but Holly's like a sister to me." Dan shrugged. "I like Kim. And I think she likes me. So, I'll see what goes on with that."

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Holly sighed. She really wanted to talk to somebody about the way she had been feeling lately, but there was really nobody that she thought could understand. Davey would just be a smartass about it, Liam wouldn't care, her father would be way overprotective, and her mom... well, normally she didn't tell her mom things. But if she was desperate, her mother would probably be her only choice. She normally told Dan everything, but... she obviously couldn't now.

Well, it was Christmas. She certainly didn't want to ruin anybody's good time by telling her sad story. She figured that she'd better just enjoy herself while she could... if she could. 


	20. Let Love In

The next day, Holly and Dan were back at the Forman headquarters, where Laurie and her son were staying for the holidays. The Forman/Hyde families were the only ones there that day, and it was nice to have the family together, but in a peaceful manner. Well, somewhat.

Laurie Forman, still unmarried, was sitting on the couch, talking to her father Red. She had hardly aged, and the only thing that had changed about her was her hair, which no longer had flippy curls. Her eighteen year-old son, Reginald "Reggie" Forman, joined the band of kids in the basement. Eric joined his wife, mother, and best friends in the kitchen. Davey, his girlfriend Natalie, Reggie, Holly, Dan, Craig, and Liam were in the basement.

In the basement, Davey was in Hyde's old room with Natalie, Craig and Liam were running around the basement, and Holly, Dan, and Reggie sat in the area where their parents used to sit so many years ago.

"So, where do you live?" Dan asked Reggie.

"Milwaukee," Reggie responded, shrugging. "Mom doesn't really come around here too often."

"Yeah, I wonder why that is," Holly wondered aloud. "I mean, you two are cousins."

Dan just shrugged and looked at Holly. Instinctively, she blushed and looked away. This caused Dan to give her a weird look, but she didn't notice. Then, Dan turned to his cousin.

"You got a girlfriend, Reg?" Dan asked.

Reggie shrugged. "Sometimes I do."

Holly gave him a confused look. "What does that even mean?"

"This girl and I are together a lot and then break up a lot," Reggie said casually.

"That sounds like an unhealthy relationship," Dan commented.

"I guess," Reggie agreed. "How many girlfriends have you had?"

Dan shrugged bashfully. "Not many."

Reggie turned to Holly. "How many boyfriends have you had?"

Holly raised her eyebrows. "Too many." Then she stopped to think. "Well, too many that didn't matter." She stole a quick glance at Dan, and Reggie caught her, so she swiftly looked the other way.

Dan stood up. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Holly asked.

"Gotta ask my mom something," Dan said, and went upstairs and Craig and Liam followed.

Holly sighed and looked over at Reggie, who was smiling knowingly and looking at her.

"What?" she asked him.

Reggie continued to grin devilishly. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?" Holly asked him.

"You like him, Holly," Reggie said matter-of-factly.

Holly gave her best amused look. "No, I don't! How weird!"

"Oh, please." Reggie rolled his eyes, still with a little grin on his face. "I saw that look that you gave him."

"I do /not/ like him," Holly insisted.

"And it's really weird, because typically he'd like you, not the other way around," Reggie said. "I mean, you're the hot one, and you like the weird one."

"Danny isn't weird," Holly said defensively.

Reggie raised his eyebrows. "And now you're getting defensive. And I caught you blushing when he looked at you. Point proven."

Holly gritted her teeth angrily, looking down. Then, without thinking, she got up hastily, went up to Reggie, and kissed him. Reggie kissed back for a second, then pushed her away.

"What the hell are you-"

"What the hell is going on?" Dan's voice rang out through the basement.

Holly's face heated up and tears welled up in her eyes. "Nothing." She sat down on the couch.

Dan walked over to her, looked at her, then noticed that she was crying. Then, he turned to his cousin. "Reg, could you give us a sec?"

"No prob." Reggie stood up, walked to Hyde's old room, then ran out of it quickly and up the stairs.

Dan and Holly heard Davey and Natalie each scream when the door opened, so one could assume what Reggie had caught them doing.

Dan chuckled. "Gross." Then, his face grew serious and he looked at his childhood friend. "Holly, why do you keep doing this?"

"Doing what?" she asked, her voice thin from trying not to let him know she was crying.

Dan sighed. "Holly, you can cry. It's okay." He put a hand on her back to comfort her, and she squirmed. "And you know what you're doing."

"No I don't," Holly said, head facing down.

"You've been throwing yourself at every guy you see," Dan said. "I don't know if you do this all the time normally, but it's not good at all. Why are you doing it?"

"I'm not!" Holly whined, hitting the couch.

"Holl," Dan said calmly, putting an arm around her. "It's okay."

"How am I throwing myself at every guy I see?" she asked angrily.

Dan sighed. "Well, you just kissed my cousin... yesterday you were flirting mercilessly with Julian. You kissed me that one day. And there's also that one Rob guy at the party."

Holly looked at Dan like a deer in headlights, unsure of what to say. Then, she burst into tears. Dan was confused, but he hugged her and let her cry on his shoulder for a few minutes. Then, Davey and Natalie came out of the room, and the instant Davey saw his sister crying, he rushed over to her. Dan transferred Holly from his shoulder to Davey's.

Davey hugged her. "What's wrong, Holl?"

Holly just sobbed and buried her face in her brother's chest.

Davey looked at Dan, mouthing "What's wrong" to him. Dan just shrugged.

"Should I go get Dad, Holl?" Davey asked, knowing his sister's close relationship with their father.

Holly wiped her eyes and sniffled, then shook her head. "No, get Mom."

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"And so it turns out, this guy who told me that he was Brad Pitt turned out to not be Brad Pitt at all!" Laurie concluded her story with a smile, while everyone else looked at each other in conclusion. "Isn't that funny?" Laurie asked, wanting acceptance.

Everyone except for Reggie and Red nodded and fake laughed. "Yeah."

"Come on, Reg, let's go upstairs," Red muttered to his grandson, then his face lit up. "I've got a set of trains up there I could show you."

"That sounds cool," Reggie agreed, and he followed his namesake into the living room.

Then, Natalie appeared around the corner. "Um, Jackie? Dave wants you downstairs. Holly's asking for you."

Hyde stood up. "What?" He looked at his wife. "She's asking for /you/?"

Jackie excitedly jumped up and down. "This is the day I've been waiting for since the day she was born!" She rushed around the corner and down the stairs.

Once she made it to the bottom, she saw her daughter crying and clinging onto her brother.

"Aw, baby, what's wrong?" Jackie walked over to her kids, looking questioningly at Davey and Dan, and they both shrugged. "Davey, Danny, you two should go upstairs for a minute so I can talk to Holly."

"Alright." The two boys went upstairs.

"Holly," Jackie sat her daughter on the couch. "Talk to me, honey. What's wrong?"

Holly continued sobbing, even louder, so Jackie let her until it subsided.

"What's wrong?" Hyde's voice urgently asked from the stairs.

"Baby, go upstairs," Jackie told her husband. "This is between me and Holly."

"Whatever." Hyde grudgingly went back upstairs.

"Holly, honey," Jackie said softly. "Please, tell me what's wrong."

Holly sniffed, looked down, and muttered: "I'm in love."

Jackie gave her daughter an incredulous look. "You're mistaken, honey."

"No, Mom!" Holly shouted. "I was in denial, and when he was around I'd throw myself at other guys so it wouldn't seem obvious."

"Holly, you can't do that. You're gonna get called bad names if you do that." Jackie shook her head. "What made you think of that right now, though?"

Her daughter put her head down. "I don't know."

"Yes, you do. Tell me."

Holly shook her head.

"Well, will you tell me what his name is?" Jackie asked.

Holly shook her head again.

"Honey, I promise you'll feel better. And I won't tell anyone," Jackie promised. "Not one person in this entire world. Only between me and you."

Holly wiped her eyes. "Mom, it's Dan," she said, crying.

Jackie's eyes widened, and she looked at her daughter in shock. "Well... I-"

"Reggie figured me out. He told me I was in denial when Dan had gone away. So I just jumped on him and kissed him to prove him wrong. Then Dan showed up and set me straight. And I didn't know what to do. And I still don't. Mom, he has no idea. It's so weird. I don't know how it happened." Holly started sobbing again. "Mom," she said again, clutching onto Jackie.

"Shh, shh." Jackie put her arm around her daughter and stroked her hair as Holly leaned onto her mother's shoulder. "It'll be okay, baby. It'll be okay."

Holly shook her head. "No, it won't. He was just saying the other day about how he and this other girl are probably gonna get together."

"He probably thinks that you'd never like him," Jackie told her. "You two don't exactly seem like a typical... couple."

Holly shrugged, still crying, then wiped her eyes. "I kissed him, Mom."

"What? When?" Jackie responded.

"A while ago. After a party... it was the night that I... you know, drank, and stuff." Holly felt awkward mentioning this in front of her mother.

"Oh." Jackie sighed. "So you were drunk."

Holly nodded. "And I didn't even remember it until Dan told me. Then Davey told me that someone can show their true feelings when they're drunk. Then it got me to thinking... and now it's gotten to this."

Jackie sat down. "You should tell him, Holly."

Holly shook her head. "No. No, never. I have never told a guy that I like him."

"Yeah, but Danny's different," Jackie said.

"Shh!" Holly looked exasperated. "I don't want anybody hearing. Mom, I'm done talking about this."

Jackie sighed. "Alright."

"Don't tell Dad. Or anyone," Holly said. "But especially not Dad."

"Okay, baby." Jackie stood up. "What should I tell him?"

"I don't know; tell him I fell or something," Holly said.

Jackie laughed. "Your father's a bit smarter than that."

"Just say that I... I'm starting my period. He won't ask anymore after that," Holly said.

"Good thinking," Jackie agreed. "We'll go with that one."

Holly smiled and nodded, then shrugged lightly. "Thanks."

"No problem, baby." Jackie hugged her daughter quickly before going back upstairs.

Almost instantly after, Davey and Dan came back down. "What happened, Holl?" Davey asked.

"Nothing," Holly said.

"Holly," Davey said.

"Nothing!" she barked at him. "Go upstairs with your girlfriend and quit having sex in dad's old room!"

Davey gave her a shocked look. "Whatever, kid." He went upstairs, and Dan gave her a questioning look.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Holly gave a little laugh.

"Nah, it's fine," Dan said, sitting on the couch. "I heard everything you said, and I totally get it."

Holly turned to face him quickly. "What?"

Dan laughed. "I'm kidding. I heard nothing, and I don't intend on asking."

Holly breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Good."

"I just hope you're okay," Dan added.

Holly smiled and looked at him. "Yeah. I'm fine."


	21. The Way It Ends

It was Davey's twenty-third birthday party, and the whole family gathered at the Hyde household to celebrate.

The party consisted of the Hydes - Hyde, Jackie, eighteen year-old Holly, thirteen year-old Liam, and Davey-, the Formans - Kitty, Red, Eric, Donna, eighteen year-old Dan along with his girlfriend Kim, and fifteen year-old Craig. Fez, Gemma, and nineteen year-old Alex were also at the party, along with Alex's girlfriend Sydney. Bob Pinciotti, Midge Pinciotti, and Davey's longtime girlfriend Natalie Pullman were also there. The Kelsos, unfortunately, couldn't make it to the affair.

Obviously, the men stayed in the living room to watch TV and drink beer, the women gathered in the kitchen to talk together, and Liam and Craig went into Liam's room to hang out. Natalie and Davey attempted to escape into the basement for some alone time, but found that Dan, Kim, Alex, and Sydney were all down there as well.

"Where's Holly?" Davey asked.

Dan shrugged. "Last I saw her, she was with our moms."

"Huh." Davey looked around. "Weird." He took a seat with Natalie on one of the couches.

Meanwhile, Holly was in her room, crying. She had nobody to be with. Both of her best friends were with their girlfriends, and she definitely didn't want to hang out with the adults. She figured nobody would even notice that she wasn't around.

Holly hadn't had a boyfriend in almost a year. Ever since that terrible night at Cynthia Hackel's party, she couldn't get her best friend out of her head. She knew she couldn't lie to herself by being with somebody else. At least, not until she got over it. Plus, graduation was right around the corner. In almost a month, she would be out of that high school and could go anywhere she wanted... well, maybe.

Unfortunately, Dan had been with his girlfriend Kim for about five months now. It broke Holly's heart when Dan told her the news. And he looked so happy, too.. Kim was blonde, with glasses and a unique sense of humor. Most people tended to love her. Holly couldn't stand her.

Suddenly, Holly heard her grandmother's voice ring out through the house. "Kids, come up here!"

Even though Holly was upstairs, she figured this applied to her. She went downstairs, to the main floor. "What's wrong, Grandma Kitty?"

Kitty smiled at her granddaughter. "Oh, Holly, I should have known you'd be the first one up here. You're so sweet." She kissed her granddaughter's forehead. "I'm just so sick of everybody being seperated at these parties. I think we should all spend time together!"

Holly smiled at the gesture, although she really didn't want to be around everybody right now. However, she loved her grandma and would do whatever she told her to do. So, Holly sat on the floor in front the couch containing her father, Uncle Eric, and Uncle Fez. Her Grandpa Red was in one of the chairs, and Uncle Bob was in the other chair.

"Where've you been, Holl?" Hyde asked his daughter.

"In my room," she responded. "I didn't really have anybody to be with."

Hyde frowned. He felt bad for his daughter, because she was all alone today. However, he was glad that she didn't have a boyfriend.

Then, Davey came in the living room and sat on the loveseat with Natalie, with his arm around her. Dan and Kim sat near Holly on the floor, as did Alex and Sydney. Hyde scooted over on the couch so Jackie could fit, but upon realizing there would be no room, he picked her up and she sat on his lap. Donna, Midge, Kitty, and Gemma brought in fold-up chair to sit on, while Craig and Liam found a place on the floor near their siblings.

"So," Kitty said excitedly, "Little Davey is all grown up." She smiled with tears in her eyes.

Davey smiled, looking down and shaking his head so that his dark brown curls shook. "It's no big milestone. Just twenty-three."

"I can't believe you're so old, baby," Jackie said to her son. "It seems like yesterday that you were just four years old, begging for me to not go to work." She smiled at the memory. She looked at Natalie. "Your boyfriend used to be quite attached to me. He'd cry if I left his sight."

Natalie laughed and looked at her boyfriend. "Dave, that's so cute."

Davey just laughed. "Ya know."

Hyde smiled. "You remember meeting me, Dave?"

He shrugged. "A little. We lived with Grandma and Grandpa."

Kitty nodded. "You used to wake up early and help me make breakfast."

"And I used to take you fishing," Red commented, smiling at his first grandson.

"Yeah, I remember some of that now," Davey said with a smile.

"I just can't believe it," Jackie repeated, looking at her son. "My baby, all grown up, with a girlfriend."

Davey smiled at his mother. "You know you did this last year, Mom."

Jackie shrugged. "It just amazes me how fast time goes by. I mean, Holly and Dan are graduating in a month."

Donna nodded slowly, looking sadly at her eldest son. "Seems like we were just in their place, huh?"

Eric and Hyde laughed. "Let's hope they didn't do half of the things we did."

Dan gave his father a strange look. "What exactly did you do?"

"Smoked a lot of dope in my basement," Red stated matter-of-factly.

Hyde and Eric raised their eyebrows at their father.

"Thankfully," Red continued, "My basement is never filled with morons anymore, just the morons's kids."

"Is that a compliment, Grandpa?" asked Dan.

"Very well could be," Kitty answered for him. "Red doesn't say many nice things."

Everybody laughed at this true statement.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

It was ten, and everybody was leaving the party. Naturally, Natalie stayed later than everybody else, so she and Davey started heading upstairs.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing?" Jackie asked her son.

"Going in my room," Davey stated as though it were obvious.

"Not in this house you don't," she said simply, and pointed to the floor. "Get back down here."

Davey sighed. "Mom, I'm twenty-three."

"I don't care. You live here. I don't want you and your girlfriend to stay in your bedroom alone." Jackie shook her head as she said this.

"Whatever." Davey walked down the stairs and Natalie followed. "Let's go somewhere, Nat."

Jackie looked at him. "Where're you going?"

Davey shrugged. "I don't know."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Okay. Be back home before-"

"Really, Mom, a curfew?" Davey asked, giving her a look. Then, he put on his shoes and walked out of the door with Natalie behind him. She shot Jackie an apologetic look before following her boyfriend.

Davey headed towards his car. "Come on, Nat."

Natalie opened the car door. "I don't think that was very fair of you."

"What?" Davey asked. "I think I'm old enough to know what's best for me."

"Yeah, but that was disrespectful," Natalie said. "Plus, you live in their home. So you should follow their rules."

"Whatever." Davey sighed again.

"Where are we going?" Natalie asked him as they backed out of the driveway.

Davey shrugged. "Let's go up to some bar or somethin'"

Natalie rolled her eyes. Whenever Dave was stressed, he'd go off to get drunk.

Davey took note of her eye roll. "We're celebrating my birthday."

"Whatever, Dave," Natalie said as they continued driving.

Once they got there, she and Davey walked in and sat down after ordering their drinks.

Within an hour, a few of Davey's friends had appeared, Davey was completely drunk.

"Dave, we should probably go," Natalie said. She had one drink, and was completely fine.

"I'm fine, Nat. Relax," Dave said.

Dave's friend Ryan laughed loudly. "She's so uptight, Dave." He, too, was drunk.

Upon hearing this, Davey laughed. "Yeeeeeah."

"Dave." Natalie's face was serious.

"What, babe?" He put an arm around her, then looked at his friends. "Don't mess with this girl, or I'll... mess you up. I'm gonna marry this girl."

Natalie squirmed in his embrace. "Dave, please. It's late. I can drive home and I'll just stay at your place for the night, okay?"

"Hot," Ryan commented.

"Nat, it's my birthday," Davey complained.

Natalie checked her phone for the time. "Uh, not anymore."

"Let's stay at your place," Davey slurred.

"We can't, Dave. My parents won't allow it, and your mom will be worried," Natalie said.

Davey shrugged. "I don't care. Let's sleep in my truck."

"We can't do that," Natalie said. "We'll just go to your house, okay?"

"No," Davey said sternly.

"Please, Dave. Let's just go," Natalie insisted.

"Don't kill our good time," Ryan said, taking a sip of beer. "Damn, you are really hot, you know that?"

Natalie rolled her eyes at him and turned to her boyfriend. "Dave."

"Fine, but I get to drive," Davey said.

Natalie's mouth dropped open. "There is no way that you are driving right now."

"C-come on, Nat." He took her hand, said bye to his friends, and walked out of the bar. "I love you," he said as they stood in front of the truck.

Natalie sighed. "I know. I love you, too."

Davey got down on one knee in front of her. "Natalie, will you-" He started laughing. "Will you marry me?" He reached in his pocket but could only find a straw wrapper. Then, he took her hand and tried to wrap it around her finger. She pulled it away.

"No, David," she said sternly.

"Wh-why?" Davey looked distraught.

"Because you don't mean it!" She looked extremely angry, then took his keys from his coat pocket and unlocked the car, getting in on the driver's side. Davey stood by her side.

"Why'd you just do that?" he asked.

"There is no way in hell that you are driving," Natalie stated. "Get in on the other side."

"Do you not love me?" Davey asked, looking into his eyes.

Natalie glared at him. "You know, I really don't know right now." She shut her eyes. "Get in."

He walked to the other side and got in the truck, and Natalie drove away, back to the Hyde household.

When they got back, nobody was awake and the door was locked. Natalie played trial and error with the lock and Davey's keys, and finally got into the house, leading her boyfriend in.

"Come on, Dave." She said, shushing him. "Let's stay in the basement, since I know you won't be quiet."

He followed her down the stairs, and laid on the couch, grabbing a blanket. "Where're you gonna sleep, baby?"

"I'll find a place, don't worry," Natalie said.

Davey soon fell asleep, and Natalie sat on the chair, attempting to get comfortable enough to fall asleep.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

At eight o'clock, Natalie heard noises upstairs, so she decided to go up and explain what happened to whoever was awake. She walked up the stairs and saw Jackie in the kitchen.

"Hey," she said softly.

When Jackie looked over and saw that she was there, Natalie saw a flash of anger pass before her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Jackie asked quickly.

Natalie sighed and looked at her boyfriend's mother. "Dave got really drunk last night. His buddies met us up at the bar, and he just lost control of himself. He even proposed to me."

Jackie gave her a horrified look. "What?"

"Obviously I refused. I told him he didn't mean it. So I drove him home and took him into the basement so he could sleep on the couch," Natalie explained.

Jackie looked down. "Wow. Twenty-three and so immature."

Natalie nodded slowly. "I know." Suddenly, tears were forming in her eyes. She looked at Jackie, and Jackie noticed that she was about to cry.

"Oh, Natalie," Jackie said. "You're not thinking of...?"

Natalie slowly shrugged. "I don't know. We've been together for almost three years, but... this has got to stop." She bit her lip. "You should have seen him last night."

"I can guess what it was like," Jackie said. "Steven was known to do those types of things, too."

"Oh." Natalie looked down, then heard steps on the stairs. It was Davey, looking extremely tired.

"Why was I downstairs, Mom?" Davey asked his mother, then noticed his girlfriend in the kitchen. "Oh."

"Talk to Natalie, David," Jackie said.

"Okay, hold on." Davey walked to the sink and got a glass of water, chugged it, refilled it, then drank some while taking an aspirin.

"Will you take me home?" Natalie asked.

"Fine," Davey said, and went downstairs. He turned to face Natalie, who was standing near the door.

The couple walked to Davey's truck and got in. He started the car, and left the driveway.

"So I got drunk," Davey said. "I'm sorry."

Natalie crossed her arms. "Do you remember what you did?"

"Not really," Davey admitted.

"Dave, you /proposed/ to me." She tapped her foot. "You begged me to let you drive, and you invited your asshole friends, who are pretty creepy by the way."

"I... proposed?" Davey sat back and thought. "Oh yeah. Wow."

"Yeah." Natalie sighed. It was quiet for about five minutes. Once they reached her driveway, Natalie spoke up. "Dave... I don't know if I can do this anymore."

Davey's eyes widened. "No, no. Natalie, no."

"Last night was really bad," Natalie said. "And I warned you."

"I know." Davey looked down, and then back at her. "But please." He leaned closer to her, and went to hug her, but she backed away.

Natalie sighed. "Dave, I think it might be best if we-"

"No!" Davey cried. "No, no, no. We've been together for three years, Natalie. I love you so much. Yeah, I screwed up, but... I promise it'll never happen again."

"I don't know." Natalie shrugged.

"Please," Davey begged. "Please, don't do this."

"I think we need to," Natalie said, closing her eyes even though it allowed the tears to fall freely from her eyes.

"No, Nat," Davey pleaded.

She nodded. "I need to go, Dave." She opened the door, then got out and started walking away. Davey stopped the car and jumped out.

"No, damn it!" He kicked the ground. "Natalie, just please!"

She turned around. "No, Dave."

He walked closer to her, but she walked away and into her house. Davey had no idea what to do besides for getting into his car and leaving. So, that's what he did. As he drove away, tears slid down his face, until he got to his home. Then, he broke down. He walked into his house, and his mother saw him and instantly ran to him.

"Oh, baby," Jackie said, hugging her son. "Oh, Davey."

Davey continued to cry quietly, hugging his mother. Jackie flashed back to when Davey was three feet tall and five years old, and used to cling to her like this, crying because he didn't want her to leave. Now, he was crying because another woman he loved was leaving him. It actually made Jackie shed a few tears.

"Davey, it'll be okay," Jackie said, still hugging him. Her son said nothing, just continued sniffing. After a few minutes, Davey sat on the couch and wiped his eyes.

"No, it won't be okay," Davey said quietly.

Jackie frowned and looked at her son intensely. "Baby, it's just-"

"Mom, I spent three years with her. I love her. I can't just let this happen," Davey said. "I don't even know what to do with myself."

"I know, honey, I know." He rested his head on her shoulder, and she stroked his hair.

Hyde came downstairs just then, and saw Jackie and Davey, and was instantly concerned. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you later, Steven," Jackie said, just as Davey started to speak.

"Natalie broke up with me," Davey said.

Hyde raised his eyebrows. "Oh. Wow." He didn't know how to respond.

Jackie nodded, looking at her husband sadly, then back at her son. "It'll end up being okay."

"No, it won't," Davey said again. "I need to be with her."

Hyde sighed. "Jacks, can Dave and I talk alone for a minute?"

Jackie nodded, patted Davey sympathetically on the shoulder, and left the room.

Hyde sat down on his chair, somewhat across from Davey. "You need to be with her?"

Davey nodded, his eyes bloodshot. "I love her, Dad," he said, his voice cracking.

"Listen, I've been in situations somewhat like this," Hyde said. "In high school, I thought your mom cheated on me, so I cheated on her. She never cheated on me, I guess, but I told her about what I did. And she broke up with me." He nodded slowly, keeping up with his story. "And that was the first time I ever cried about a girl."

"How long were you broken up for?" Davey asked.

Hyde shrugged. "Not long. She eventually got over it. But then I thought I caught her cheating on me when she was in Chicago. She accepted a job there, because I wouldn't marry her. So I went there to propose, and I caught her with Kelso. Turns out he was just being stupid. But it caused me to leave for good... well, kinda. And I missed the first five years of your life because of that."

Davey nodded slowly. "I hope I can get her back like you did with Mom. I mean, we've never broken up before. And I need her in my life."

"Tell her that." Hyde shrugged. "Don't let her leave."

Davey stood up and grabbed his keys.

Hyde shook his head. "Not now. Give her a day or two. She may crack, too."

"Okay." Davey nodded and put his head in his hands as he sat back down on the couch.

A/N: Please review if you want more! 


	22. Thank You For The Good Times

It was June 14th in the year 2003. Jackie woke up bright and early and turned to face her husband.

"Steven."

Hyde rolled over, his eyes still closed. "Huh."

Jackie sighed and shook him lightly. "Baby, wake up."

Hyde grunted, yawned, then opened his eyes. "What do you want?"

"It's graduation day," Jackie said softly. "We need to make sure the kids are up."

Her husband sat straight up. "No way is she graduating. I won't let her."

Jackie laughed lightly. "We've gotta let her grow up sometime. I had to do it with Davey."

Hyde sighed. "I know." He looked at his wife, who had just gotten out of bed. "I wish I could just go back in time. Back to when she was a little girl, and needed me all the time."

"She still needs you, Steven," Jackie said as she changed clothes. "We all need you."

"The kids needed me more when they were young," Hyde responded. "I mean, Liam's almost in high school even."

"I know." Jackie sighed. "I hope we did it right."

"Seems like it." Hyde shrugged. "I mean, Dave's not too bad. Ever since he and Natalie got back together, he's been happy as hell."

Jackie frowned. "I know. /He/ doesn't need /me/ anymore."

"No need to think about this now," Hyde said. "I'll go wake up the kids."

"Okay," Jackie agreed.

Hyde walked down the hall and walked into Liam's room. He stood by his son's bedside. "Liam, wake up."

Liam jumped, startled. "Dad?"

"Yeah," Hyde said. "We gotta get up early for Holly's graduation."

"Okay." Liam got out of bed, and Hyde left. He walked past Davey's room and knocked on the door.

"Dave," he said, and his oldest son rolled over.

"Huh?"

"Gotta get up. Holly's graduating."

"Fine."

Hyde stood there until he knew his son was out of bed, then he walked to his daughter's room. The door was open, so he looked it and saw her, wide awake, putting makeup on. He smiled at her.

"Shoulda known you'd be up," he said.

Holly turned around. "Yeah. I wanna make sure everything's right. It's my last time seeing most of these people."

Hyde shrugged. "More reason not to care."

"I want to make a good last impression," Holly insisted, looking back into the mirror.

Hyde laughed, shaking his head. "You really are your mother's daughter."

Holly scrunched up her face, and Hyde laughed again.

"Come on, that's not that bad," he said, and his daughter shrugged. "Alright, well, I'll leave you alone. I've gotta get dressed anyway."

"Okay, Daddy," Holly said.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

It was now three o'clock, and the ceremony was over. Hugs were being sent around from friend to friend, lover to lover.

Holly smiled at her ex-classmates, then saw Dan walking toward her. He and Kim had broken up shortly after that night when they were celebrating Davey's birthday, and Holly had been happy since then.

"So, we finally did it, huh?" He asked with a grin.

Holly shrugged. "I guess. It went by fast as hell."

"Agreed," Dan said. "I can deal without those people though. The only person I'm close to from that school I know will be in my life forever." He smiled at Holly.

"I'm hoping that's me," she said with a nervous laugh. Dan nodded, and they hugged like best friends should.

That's when Holly decided it was time. "Dan, can I talk to you in private for a sec?"

Dan nodded. "Sure." They walked over to an area by some trees, a bit away from the parking lot.

"Danny," Holly said nervously, "we've been friends for a long time... well, since birth really."

Dan looked at her. "Okay, yeah."

"Well..." Holly trailed off. "I need to tell you something that happened."

"What did you do?" Dan asked, his eyebrows raised and with an edge in his voice.

Holly shook her head. "No, no, no. It's not like bad. At least, I hope not."

"Okay, then tell me," Dan said, nodding toward her.

Holly took a deep breath. "Remember the day we went to that party? You didn't want to go but I made you... I got drunk and almost got... you know."

Dan nodded. "Yeah. That was a bad night."

"Remember when I kissed you?" Holly asked.

"/I/ do," Dan said. "You only know because I told you. And honestly, I thought you would've forgotten by now."

Holly sighed and looked down. "Yeah, well... Davey heard that day you told me. And afterwards, he was telling me that some people express their true feelings when drunk. Which sounds like bull, but, well... I thought about it."

Dan gave her a quizzical look, but told her to continue.

"It was something I had never considered, but... I realized that..." Holly shrugged. "It's possible."

Dan looked confused. "Are you saying...?"

Holly nodded. "Dan, this past year, I've been hiding... well, feelings I guess."

"For me?" Dan seemed shocked.

Holly bit her lip and nodded again.

Dan exhaled and raised his eyebrows. "Wow." He took a deep breath again. "I never pictured that happening."

"So you mean... you've never wondered?" Holly asked.

"Well, I guess I just figured that..." Dan shrugged. "That you were kinda too good for me. So, no, it never crossed my mind."

"Oh." Holly looked down.

Dan stood there awkwardly, not sure of what to say. "Holly, what about when you kissed Reggie?"

"He caught me. He told me that I liked you, and I didn't want to admit it. So to prove him wrong, I kissed him. Same with Julian," Holly admitted. "And when you were with Kim, it really bothered me. I couldn't stand that bitch."

Dan laughed a little, looking down. "Wow. I just... wow."

Holly nodded in agreement, slowly. "Dan... I know it's weird. And I don't want you to change the way you see me now. But... do you think it could ever happen?"

Dan bit his lip in thought, still focused on the ground. "I... Holly, I really don't know. I mean, like I said, it's really something I have never considered."

"Well, will you?" Holly asked. "Just... think about it." She shrugged, looking away. "This is the first time I've ever done this with a guy."

"Done what?" Dan asked.

"Told him how I feel," Holly said, looking up and doing anything to avoid Dan's eyes. "And it's extra weird since it's you."

Dan laughed, which made Holly feel a little bit better. "Well... Holly, I'll think about it."

"Okay." She swallowed loudly. "Thanks for considering it."

Dan laughed again. "Why wouldn't I? I love you, Holl."

Holly smiled. "I love you too, Dan."

The pair embraced, and Holly held on a bit longer than usual. When they pulled apart, it was a bit awkward.

"So..." Dan said awkwardly. "We're graduated, huh?"

Holly laughed. "Yep!"

They started walking back and saw their parents waiting for them.

"What were you two doing?" Donna asked, her eyebrows knitted together.

"We were just having a talk about graduating. It's crazy, isn't it?" Dan asked.

Donna nodded slowly, looking at her oldest son with tears in her eyes. "Oh, Danny." She walked over and hugged him. "I love you so much."

Dan smiled. "I love you too, Mom."

All of the family members lined up for hugs with the graduates: Donna, Eric, Hyde, Jackie, Red, Kitty, Davey, and even Craig and Liam.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

A month later, the familes were together again. It had taken Dan almost two weeks to make a decision, and he decided to go for it. Now it had been two weeks since he and Holly had decided to be more than friends, and it was still taking some getting used to. They had told their families, who were completely amazed.

"I called it when we were pregnant!" Donna had exclaimed when they told them the news.

Besides that, the two still hadn't even kissed yet. They decided just to let it happen naturally, and that time hadn't happened yet.

The Hyde family went to the Forman household that night, and Holly found Dan instantly. Jackie and Hyde watched as their daughter walked down the hall to her boyfriend's' bedroom.

Hyde frowned. Dan was the one he never had to worry about. Dan was the one who was supposed to look after Holly, but not date her. Jackie was still skeptical. She loved Dan like she would a nephew, but this relationship made no sense to her. It made as much sense as dating Eric in the 70's. It was practically the same thing, with the exception of Dan and Holly being a lot closer than she and Eric ever were. But still, Holly seemed much more different.

On this occasion, Fez, Gemma, and Alex also came over to the Forman home.

Alex, Dan, and Holly were in the basement, which was their unofficial place for hanging out.

"Damn, Dan. I never thought I'd see the day," Alex admitted as he looked at his two best friends, sitting on the couch together.

Dan shrugged. "Neither did I. This was all her doing."

Holly blushed and shrugged as well. "It's not my fault." Changing the subject, she added: "Where's your girlfriend?"

"Oh, we broke up a while back," Alex said. "I don't know, it's difficult. This'll be my second year in college, and I mean... there's too many hot girls there. It's hard to stay loyal when you have three topless chicks backed up on you, dancing with beers in their hands."

Dan raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Is that a true story?"

"Maybe I mixed a few stories together," Alex said. "Maybe I watched some of it on TV. But the point is, it wouldn't have worked out. I'm almost twenty, y'know. I need to have fun."

"Guess so," Holly said, and she leaned onto Dan, who put an arm around her.

Alex laughed. "God, I can't get over this."

"Shut up," Holly said, blushing again.

"What do your parents think about this?" Alex inquired.

Dan shrugged. "They think it's great."

"And my parents haven't said much," Holly admitted. "But whatever."

As Holly stopped talking, a phone rang. Alex jumped up and got his cell phone. "Hello?" He left the room.

Holly sighed. "How weird."

"What?" Dan asked.

"I don't know."

Dan sat up, taking his arm away from behind her back, and looked at her.

"What?" Holly asked.

Dan shrugged. "Just wanted to see something."

This made Holly self-conscious. She started messing with her hair. Dan reached over and took her hand, placing it next to her, where it was before. Then, he leaned in slowly and kissed her. It lasted only a few seconds, and when he pulled away, Holly stared at him.

"That was nice," she finally said.

Dan laughed nervously. "Yeah. It was."

"We got it over with," Holly said.

"Yup." Dan nodded, as Alex walked back in the room.

"Who was that?" Holly asked.

"It was... wait." Alex stopped. He looked around the room. "I missed something."

Holly and Dan looked at him quizzically. "What?"

"Something happened in here when I was gone," Alex said.

Holly raised an eyebrow at him. "How do you know?"

Alex laughed. "Nah, I'm just kidding. I saw you two kiss."

Holly blushed and looked away. "Oh."

"This is so damn weird," Alex repeated. "You and Dan... I mean. It's just so strange."

"Well, you just witnessed it," Dan said.

"True," Alex agreed.

Meanwhile, upstairs:

Eric sighed. "What happened to us?"

"What do you mean?" Fez asked.

"We used to be so exciting! Like... I don't know. Now we're just boring," Eric said. "Look at us. We're sitting in my living room, watching TV and talking."

"Uh, Forman," Hyde interrupted. "Isn't that what we always used to do?"

Eric shrugged. "It's different. Not everyone is here. We aren't young. We aren't in my basement."

"And we aren't in a circle," Fez added, and smiled at his wife. "That's when we-"

"I can guess what you did," Gemma said with a laugh.

Donna and Jackie smiled. "Good times."

Jackie changed the subject. "Davey just got a job. A decent one."

"Oh yeah?" Donna asked. "Doing what?"

"Honestly, I don't even understand," Jackie admitted. "But, it's some sort of business thing. He's happy about it, and he makes good money already."

"Maybe he'll think of moving out," Eric commented.

"What?" Jackie looked distraught at the thought. "No. He wouldn't."

Gemma laughed. "Oh, Jackie. I felt the same way when Alex left for college. But, eventually you get used to it."

"He's my baby." Jackie frowned. "He can't leave me."

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Of course, about a week later, Davey came home from work smiling.

"What are you so happy about?" Liam asked his brother, as he was sitting in the kitchen.

"I found an apartment," Davey said excitedly.

"Didn't even know you were looking," Liam commented. "Mom'll be happy," he added sarcastically.

"Honestly, I wasn't even looking," Davey admitted, sitting down at the table across from his brother, and shoved a paper with an apartment on it in front of him. "I saw the opportunity and I took it. I mean, I have a good job. It's about time I left. And..." Davey looked down with a grin.

"Uh oh." Liam raised his eyebrows at his brother after reading the paper. "What is it?"

Davey smiled. "I'm gonna propose to Natalie."

Liam choked on the water he was drinking. "What?"

"You heard me," Davey said. "It's been so long that we've been together. I love her, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her."

Liam raised his eyebrows. "Well, it'll be a happy week for Mom."

"Shut up, I know she'll take it hard," Davey said, looking sad for a moment. "But this is what is supposed to happen. She has to understand that."

"I guess so," Liam said, shrugging as his mother walked in.

"What?" She asked, as she noticed her sons were talking. "What do you have in your hands, Davey?"

"Oh, nothing," Davey said, stuffing the paper in his pocket.

"No, Davey." Jackie walking over, curiously looking over his shoulder with a playful smile. "Show me."

Davey started "Mom, I-"

Liam stood up. "I gotta go." He walked to his room to avoid what was going to happen. Sure enough, within a few minutes, a loud "WHAT?" was heard throughout the house.

"Davey, you can't leave!" Jackie pleaded. "You're my baby."

"Mom, I've gotta grow up," Davey said with a little laugh. "I'm twenty-three."

"Baby, you... I just-"

"Also..." Davey looked down. "Might as well kill two birds with one stone, so what the hell." He looked back at his mother. "I'm proposing to Natalie."

"WHAT?" Jackie looked completely shocked. "But... you're so young!"

"Mom, you /had/ me when you were nineteen," Davey pointed out.

"Yeah, but you were an accident. So was Holly," Jackie said.

"Well, you and dad got married when you were still twenty-four," Davey said.

"Yeah, well I was older than you are," Jackie insisted.

"We'll be engaged for a while!" Davey exclaimed. "You need to quit being so irrational sometimes, Mom."

Jackie grew quiet and looked at the floor. Davey took note of her sadness and walked over to her and hugged her. She cried a little bit.

"I love you so much, baby," she said to him.

"I know, Mom," Davey said, smiling at his mother. "I love you, too."

"I wish you never grew up," Jackie said with a little laugh as she pulled away and wiped some tears away with her sleeve. "I just can't believe it."

"I know," Davey repeated. "But you grew up and so did I. And Holly is, and Liam is. It's what happens."

Jackie nodded. "It's so hard to accept though. I never had parents who cared so much, so this is brand new to me."

Davey smiled at his mother. "It'll be fine."

She sniffed. "I know."  



	23. Sailed On

Two and a half years later...

Davey and Natalie had been married for seven months. Holly and Dan were still together. Craig was in eleventh grade, and Liam in tenth. The Hyde home now only consisted of Hyde, Jackie, Holly, and Liam, while the Forman home remained the same. This was due to the fact that Holly and Dan were both attending a community college.

Davey and Natalie bought a small house once they got married, and Natalie found out that she was pregnant, which made them extremely happy and Jackie a little sad. In fact, when they told them the news, Hyde instantly put an arm around his wife to comfort her. Now, Natalie was five months pregnant.

Holly and Dan were now twenty-one. Now that she was legal, Holly reverted back to her high school ways. On her free nights (when she wasn't working or at school), she'd meet up with some friends and would get drunk and party. This disappointed Dan. Occasionally, he would accompany her. This was one of those nights.

Dan drove up to a local club with his girlfriend in tow. Holly was dressed up to an extent and walked in, like she normally did. Her and Dan's friends were there, like normal, so he went and sat down, ordered a beer, and started talking with some friends. He occasionally looked over at Holly to check up on her. She typically was dancing with her friends, or talking with them.

This time he turned around and she didn't look so good. She must have drank way too much, judging by the way she was even moving. She followed her friends to the dance floor and nearly fell on a man, who caught her. Dan sighed and felt anger flare up inside of him. However, he was used to this. And he loved Holly. This was who she was, and as long as nothing bad happened, he would get over it.

After another minute of talking to his friends, he turned back around and saw the same guy dancing with Holly. He felt more anger but ignored it and turned back to his friends. After a conversation, his friend Brandon looked over Dan's shoulder.

"Dude," he said to Dan. "Um, you might want to turn around."

He whipped around to see the guy kissing Holly. "Alright, that's it!" Dan stood up and walked up to her.

"Holly, let's go," he said to her. "You're extremely drunk, and you're letting some guy kiss you, and-"

"Waaait," the guy responded. "I didn't kiss her."

"I saw you!" Dan said.

"No, she kissed me," the guy swore.

Dan closed his eyes, unsure of what to do. "Holly."

"I swear, I didn't know she had a boyfriend," the guy said again.

"Whatever, go away," Dan said, and took his girlfriend onto the main floor. "Did you kiss him?"

Holly giggled, then shook her head. "Why would I do that?" She wrapped her arms around him. "I've got youuuu."

Normally, Dan wouldn't mind at all when she did something like this. But he had a feeling that she was lying. "Don't lie to me, Holl."

"Maybe," she said. "But only because I forgot."

"Forgot what, me?" Dan asked.

"Danny," Holly said, then pulled his head down and kissed him, hard, and shoved her tongue in his mouth. It turned him on, obviously, but he forced himself to pull away.

"Holl, you kissed another guy," Dan said. "I never cared that you came out and partied with your friends, but you crossed the line right there."

"Danny, please," Holly said, pulling him closer and attempting to kiss him again.

"Let's go," Dan said, taking her out of the place and walked to the car.

Holly sat in the seat, pouting. "I was having a good time."

"Yeah, too much fun," Dan said. "I'll drop you off at home, okay?"

"Fine." Holly leaned back in her seat. "Are you mad at me?"

"Damn right, I'm mad," Dan said. "You kissed some guy that wasn't me!"

"I didn't know, Danny," Holly said.

"Didn't know what, Holl?" Dan asked angrily. "That he wasn't me? Yeah right."

Holly frowned. "Are we still together?"

Dan shook his head. "You just cheated on me. I'm sick of this. I'm done."

"No, Danny," Holly said softly. "I'm sorry."

"That won't cut it," Dan said matter-of-factly.

Holly shut her eyes and was quiet for a few minutes. They pulled onto her street when she looked up at Dan.

"What?" he asked. "We're at your house. Go."

"I love you, Dan." She went to kiss him, but he pulled away and shook his head. "Well, don't you love me?"

"Yeah, I do," Dan said. "But I can't be with you. So go."

"Ugh!" Holly threw open the door and drunkenly yelled. "You'll come back to me tomorrow anyways!" She slammed the door and walked in the house to find her father sitting on a chair, eyebrows raised.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Holl, don't keep doing this," Hyde said to her.

"Doing what?" she asked angrily, throwing her purse on the ground.

"Coming home this late, like this. It's obvious that you're wasted," Hyde said. "I don't like that."

"I don't give a fuck," Holly said, stomping her feet as she walked away.

"Holly Dina!" Hyde walked over to her and grabbed her wrist. "Come here!"

"What do you /want/?" she asked loudly.

Hyde seethed. "First of all, be quiet. Mom and Liam are asleep. Second of all, you don't talk to me like that. Listen to me, do you hear me? You're twenty-one years old, and old enough to know better."

"Why does everyone hate me?" Holly screamed as she stamped her foot.

Hyde, with her wrist still in his hand, pulled her outside on the back porch. "Stop it, okay? Stop being so dramatic. Stop coming home so late. Stop getting drunk every time you have the chance to. I can't imagine Dan likes this."

Holly sighed as she sat down. "I don't care about Dan."

"Why's that?" Hyde asked.

"He broke up with me tonight," she said angrily.

"Ohh." Hyde nodded in an understanding way. "Okay. This isn't my strong suit. But Holl, just calm down, okay? Go to bed and be quiet."

"I don't want to," Holly said. "I don't feel good." Just then, she stood and ran to the grass and threw up. "Dad, I think I'm gonna pass out." She started falling back, and Hyde ran quickly and caught her. He picked her up and carried her into the house and up the stairs into her room, and onto her bed. Then, he tucked her in and sat by her bed for a moment.

"I love you, Holl," he said quietly, then kissed her on the head and went to bed.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Dan meant it when he broke up with Holly, because he didn't talk to her for two weeks. When he saw her, he was silent. She was sitting in her bedroom, and he stood in the her doorway. Then, she looked at him.

"What're you doing here?" she asked, sounding unenthusiastic.

"I thought I'd stop by for a minute," he said.

"Oh?" Holly asked bitterly. "Awesome."

"Listen, Holl," Dan said. "What you did was technically cheating. I don't really like you getting wasted all the time either. But I don't wanna change you, so go ahead and do what you want."

"Whatever, Daniel," Holly muttered. "Things are never gonna be the same now, y'know?"

"I know." Dan shrugged. "But we can try to make it like it used to be. This whole thing was kinda weird anyway, right? I mean, we're almost family."

"I didn't think so," Holly said. "Were you thinking that when we kissed? When we had sex? Huh?"

"Shh," Dan said quickly. "I think your dad may be around."

"Well, you don't want me, Dan," Holly stated, "So whatever."

Dan shook his head. "Fine. Whatever. Bye."

"Bye," Holly replied.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Four months later, Natalie gave birth to a baby girl. She and Davey named her Arianna Michelle Hyde.

Ever since Arianna was born, Jackie would not leave Davey and Natalie's house. She was completely in love with her granddaughter, although she hated how old she felt. Hyde wasn't too good with babies, but he interacted with her a little bit. Truthfully, he had always felt a bit distant from Davey. Yeah, he loved his son, but due to the fact that he missed out on the beginning of his life, things weren't the same as they were with Holly and Liam.

Today, Jackie and Donna were visiting Davey's house to see Arianna, who was eight months old now. When Davey let her in, Jackie hugged him and clung onto him for a minute. Davey smiled.

"Come on, Mom."

The three walked through the house to the baby's room. "Nat's at work," Davey explained to his mother and Donna.

"Alright." Jackie went to the crib and picked up her granddaughter. "Hey, Ari!" She smiled at the baby.

"I can't get over how cute she is!" Donna exclaimed. "I always wished that I had a girl."

"I can't get over the fact that my baby has a baby," Jackie said with a glance at her son.

Davey just shrugged and smiled. "It happens."

Jackie handed Arianna over to Donna, who looking adoringly at the baby. "She's so cute."

"She's not bad either," Jackie added. "One night I stayed with her and she had no problems at all."

Davey smiled proudly. "Yep, she takes after me."

Donna nodded. "That's right. You were a pretty good baby. Well, except for in the very beginning, from what I remember."

He sheepishly grinned, then shrugged. "Where's Holl and Liam?"

"Liam's at school," Jackie said as though it should be obvious. "Although it is almost two. He should be getting out soon." She checked her phone for the time. "And Holly's out with Nick," she added, referring to her daughter's boyfriend of four months.

"Alright." Davey looked around, then at Donna. "What's Dan been up to these days?"

Donna shrugged. "Just been going to school. It's his last year, so he's really focused."

"Yeah?" Davey asked. "What's he gonna do?"

"Pharmacy," Donna said. (A/N: This, of course, is a joke referring back to the show. Kitty says Eric should be a pharmacist because he had slender fingers that were perfect for picking up pills)

"Not bad," Davey commented. "You can make a lot doing that."

Jackie nodded. "Yeah. I can't believe Holly left college."

"Well, she found a job," Davey said.

"Yeah, in an office," Jackie said. "How exciting is that?"

Davey shrugged. "Yeah, not much, I guess. But isn't that how she met her boyfriend?"

"Yeah," Jackie said. "So that's one good thing."

"So you like him?" asked Donna.

"Oh, yeah." Jackie nodded. "He's nice. He seems very suited for her." She paused. "Please tell me that Danny has a girlfriend."

"I honestly don't know," Donna said. "I know it hurt him when he found out that Holly had a boyfriend though."

"Yeah, they lasted longer than I ever thought they would," Jackie admitted.

"Still can't believe they did that," Donna said with a small laugh. "They seemed so weird together."

Jackie nodded in agreement. "But, whatever. I mean, Holly's pretty happy right now. And I hope Dan is, too."

"He's alive," Donna said, laughing. "I think he's alright. I'll have to ask him about the girlfriend thing. Ever since he got the apartment with Alex, he's been distant."

"So it's just you, Eric, and Craig," Jackie asked, but it sounded more casual than that.

"Yeah," Donna said. "Craig's excited to graduate, too, which will be difficult." She sighed. "He made prom king, you know? That made him happy. And he was the football star this year. He's had a great senior year."

"He's accomplished a lot more in high school than we ever did," Jackie said with a slight laugh. "Well, I did make prom queen when I was a senior. But you all were gone by that time." She closed her eyes. "It's funny how much things change."

Donna nodded. "Things were really hard recently. I mean, you know that."

Jackie frowned. "I know. I still can't believe he's gone." She felt tears welling up in her eyes at the thought.

"Planning the funeral was really hard for Eric and Kitty," Donna said. "At least Laurie had the respect to show up."

"She seemed really sad," Jackie said. "I mean, she wouldn't stop crying."

Donna shook her head in shame. "I can't believe she would treat Red like that once she graduated. She came and went as she pleased. She knew that he adored her, and she was gone most of the time unless she needed something. And then she just disappeared."

Davey sighed. "Can we not talk about this?" Losing his grandfather was very hard for him.

"Okay," the two women agreed, and changed the subject to something happier.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"I saw Arianna with Jackie today," Donna said to her husband.

"Oh yeah?" Eric asked. "She's cute, isn't she?"

"Definitely," Donna responded, and Eric detected a sad tone in his wife's voice.

"Donna, what's wrong?" he asked her.

She ran up to him and hugged him. "Eric, I can't believe that Craig's gonna graduate now. What're we gonna do all by ourselves?"

Eric shrugged. "We'll just have to deal, and relax I guess. Plus, I doubt he's gonna move out right away."

As if on cue, red-haired eighteen year old Craig appeared. "What's goin on?"

"Mom's upset about you graduating," Eric explained with a small smile as he put an arm around Donna.

"Aw." Craig shrugged. "Mom, it's okay."

"Craig, you're the youngest. And now you're grown up. At least Jackie's still got Liam," Donna said.

"Liam's gonna be a senior. That'll go by fast," Craig said. "And then you and Aunt Jackie and Dad and Uncle Hyde can all have more time to be together. And it's not like I won't be around."

Eric nudged his wife. "Hear that? Maybe it could be like old times. Fez could come, with Gemma. Hell, maybe we could get Kelso to come out here."

Donna smiled at the thought. "Yeah, that sounds nice."

"Alright, good." He hugged his wife. "I love you, Donna."

"I love you, too," Donna said. "And I love you, too, Craig."

Craig smiled. "I love you, Mom. You too, Dad."

Eric smiled at his son and hugged him.  



	24. Change

A/N: This story is coming to a close for me. It's going to get to the point where I won't know what to do with it. So, probably only a few more chapters after this. Then, I can focus on my other stories (I promise I didn't forget Don't Forget, Remember Me, All These Mistakes, etc.) Please review and tell me what you think. Also, when you read the part about Hyde and Holly talking, listen to Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle... made me nearly cry. Thanks! :)

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Today was the day that Hyde had dreaded since Holly was born. Her wedding. His daughter was marrying Nick Hurst, who she had been dating for a couple of years. He was a tall, handsome man who seemed to have good intentions. Of course, Hyde was still wary.

He woke up after hearing the blow dryer turn on, and instantly knew that it was his wife. "Geez, Jacks," he muttered. "Could you be any louder?"

"Sorry, Dad!" Twenty-five year old Holly called from the bathroom. "That was me."

Hyde got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. "Aren't you supposed to get your hair done at the place or somethin'?"

"Yeah, but I figured I'd blow dry it after I showered so we wouldn't have to wait," Holly said, then sincerely smiled at her father. "Daddy, I'm so excited."

Hyde nodded. "Yeah, you've always loved attention."

Holly laughed. "You're right. Just like Mom."

Hyde smiled. "Yep. You finally admitted it."

"Steven!" Jackie's voice called, and Hyde walked down the hall into the kitchen to find Jackie already dressed and looking nice, and Liam at the table eating cereal.

"Hurry up. We're leaving in an hour. Holly needs to get ready." She glanced at her son. "You, too Liam. Go get dressed and everything."

Liam sighed, finished his cereal quickly, and got up to change, causing Jackie to sigh and pick up his bowl to put in the sink.

Jackie turned to her husband. "Baby, I know you're sad. But you need to get dressed right now, please. We don't have much time."

"Whatever," Hyde mumbled and walked into the bedroom.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Holly was all ready, and had her hair curled perfectly, her makeup looked great, and her dress was amazing.

She was finally all alone and looked in the mirror and practiced smiling for wedding pictures when she heard the door shut. She jumped and turned around, then saw that it was her dad.

"Dad, what're you doing in here?" Holly asked.

Hyde shrugged. "I wanted to talk to you before you got... y'know."

"Aw... Daddy." She smiled, and walked over to him, and hugged him.

He smiled at his daughter as tears formed in his eyes, and no matter how hard he tried to fight them, they kept appearing. "I love you, Holl."

"I love you, too, Dad." She pulled away and fluffed her hair.

"I can't believe you're not gonna be mine in a few hours." He sighed. "You're my baby girl." He smiled. "You can't leave me."

"I'm not leaving, Daddy," Holly said with a smile. "Things are just gonna be a little different now. I'm gonna be Nick's."

"You're not gonna be Holly Hyde anymore," Hyde said, with a smirk. "I feel like I'm losing you."

"You aren't," she said with tears in her eyes. "Oh, Dad, you're making me cry."

"I'm sorry, baby." He hugged her again, and held onto his daughter. "You look beautiful. You look just like your mom would've." He smiled at her, and she smiled back, and a tear fell down her cheek.

"I love you, Daddy," Holly said again.

Hyde smiled. "I love you, too." He closed his eyes. "I should go find your mom."

"Okay, Dad," Holly said, then turned to the mirror to make sure her hair or makeup didn't get messed up. Then, she put on her shoes and waited until someone came in to get her.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

When Hyde walked Holly down the aisle, he didn't want to let go of her. But he knew he had to, and he released her arm after she kissed him on the cheek.

A half hour later, Holly Hyde was now Holly Hurst, or Mrs. Nicholas Hurst. After they said I do, there was cheering, and happiness. Holly looked so happy, that Hyde had to smile. He liked seeing her so happy, even if it meant letting her go.

Jackie smiled and looked at Liam as they stood up to leave. "You're the only unmarried one now, huh?"

Liam shrugged. "Yep."

"Good, let's keep it that way," Jackie said, putting her arm on his shoulder as they walked out.

Everyone, of course, went up to congratulate the bride and groom. The people who came from Holly's side were her mother, father, Liam, Davey and Natalie with Arianna and their other daughter Dina, Uncle Eric, Aunt Donna, Dan and his girlfriend Camilla, Craig, Grandma Kitty, Uncle Fez and Gemma, Alex and his fiancee' Danielle, Kelso, Suzy, Betsy and her husband Will, with their kids, and a few of her friends from work.

Then came the reception. Regular reception-like things occured, and then as it came to a close, Dan approached Holly.

"Hey," he said to her as she stood near a table, alone.

"Hi." She smiled graciously at him.

"You look beautiful," Dan said. "Can't believe you're married now."

"Thanks." Holly smiled again. "And I know. It's crazy." She paused. "What about you and Cammie, huh?" She nudged him and winked.

Dan laughed and shook his head. "No. No, we're not quite there yet."

Holly shrugged. "Well, it's something to think about."

"Guess so," Dan said, and stopped to look around.

"God," Holly said, almost whispering. "Look at us. I can't how fast time flies. Our parents were right."

Dan smiled, and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Everyone's married now, too."

"Your time will come," Holly said to him with a smile.

"Yeah." Dan nodded. "Well, anyways. Congratulations." He hugged her tightly, and Holly smiled as he did so.

"I love you, Danny," she said, still smiling. "Always will."

He smiled. "I love you, too, Holl." Then he pulled away, and waved, walking away.

Holly watched her old friend and lover walk away, and then felt two arms wrap around her waist. She jumped, then turned around to see her husband. "Hey."

"Don't start cheating on me already," Nick joked, gesturing to Dan.

Holly laughed and kissed him. "I'm yours, Nicky. Officially."

He held her close and kissed her hair. "I know you are, baby."

Holly smiled, then pulled away. She saw her older brother sitting in a chair by the wall, with his daughter Dina, who was almost two. She was sleeping on his lap, and he held her so she was comfortable. Holly walked over.

"Hey," she said as she sat down.

Davey smiled at his sister. "How's it goin'?"

"Good." Holly looked around and tapped her foot. "How's my namesake?" She smiled, because Dina was named after Holly... well, her middle name.

"Tired," Davey said, looking down at his daughter. "But have you seen Ari? She's crazy."

Holly laughed. "No, I didn't see her. Where is she?"

"With Nat, I'm assuming," Davey replied, scanning for his wife and daughter. "Yep, there they are." He pointed to a spot across the room and there they were, talking to Gemma and Fez. Three year old Arianna was jumping around, but occasionally slowed down.

"She's fighting it," Davey said, laughing. "She's tired, too."

"I'm gonna go get her," Holly said, walking over to her niece.

"Aunt Holly!" Arianna cried out, and reached for her. Holly picked her up, and Natalie looked over.

"Oh, you got her?" Natalie asked. "Good, she's pretty tired."

"No," Arianna said, defying her mother. "I'm not tired."

Holly smiled. "Come on, let's go by your daddy." She walked over to Davey, with Arianna in her arms, and sat down next to her brother.

"Hey, Ari," Davey said, waving to his daughter.

"I want Daddy," Arianna said, trying to climb on her father's lap.

"Oh, no, Ari," Davey said. "I've got Dina."

Arianna started screaming instantly, and Holly quickly offered to take Dina from her brother.

Davey laughed and put Arianna on his lap. "She's just like you, huh?"

Holly rolled her eyes but smiled and looked down at Dina. "How adorable."

"Yeah." Davey smiled, then thought. "When you do think you'll want kids?"

"Wow." Holly raised her eyebrows in thought. "I really don't know."

"I can't picture you with kids," Davey said. "It'd be weird."

"I used to think it'd be weird seeing you married, and that happened," Holly said. "Hell, it just happened to me."

"Yeah, that's pretty weird, too," Davey agreed, and thought. "I haven't really talked to Nick that much, even though you've been with him for quite a while, but I hope you're happy. He'd better take care of you."

Holly smiled at her brother's protectiveness. "He will."

Davey looked at his sister. "He'd better, or else he'll have to face me and Dad." He laughed. "Liam, too."

"I know." Holly laughed a little, and looked at her parents. They were talking to Kitty, Donna, and Eric. She sat and thought for a few minutes. Then, she turned to her brother. "You know what makes me sad?"

Davey turned. "What?"

"That Dan and I were such good friends. And then we got together and broke up, and now we aren't as close anymore," Holly said.

"That was kind of random," Davey admitted. "But yeah, I get it. When you grow up, you tend to grow apart from people anyways."

Holly nodded. "That sucks."

"Yep," Davey agreed. "But you know that he'll be in your life forever. So you can just make the effort."

"I guess so," Holly said just as Natalie approached the two.

"Look at that," Natalie said. "You got her to sleep." She pointed to Arianna.

"Well, she does love me," Davey said playfully.

Natalie rolled her eyes and smiled at her husband, then turned to her sister-in-law. "I'll take Dina if you want me to," she offered.

"Sure." Holly gave up her niece, handing her to her mother, then getting up and walking to Nick, who was with his parents.

"Look at that," Nick's mother Jennifer said. "Our new daughter-in-law."

Holly smiled at her mother-in-law, unsure of what to do. Nick stood next to her and put an arm around her.

"You look so beautiful, Holly," Jennifer said. "Doesn't she, Peter?"

Peter, Nick's father, nodded at Holly.

"Thank you," Holly said with another smile. "I should go say goodbye to my brother. I just noticed that he's leaving."

"We should probably get going, too," Jennifer said. "Bye." She and Peter each hugged the newlyweds before leaving. Then, Nick and Holly walked to Davey and Natalie.

"Bye, Davey," Holly said, hugging her brother. "See you soon." She kissed each of her nieces and hugged Natalie. Then, Nick shook each of their hands, and they walked over to Jackie and Hyde, who were still with Eric and Donna.

"Mom, will you help me change?" Holly asked Jackie. "I want to get going."

Jackie nodded and she and her daughter walked into the bathroom after Holly grabbed her bag.

"Your father's so depressed," Jackie commented. "I'm actually a little worried."

Holly frowned. "I don't want Dad to be sad."

"He just wants you to come home with us," Jackie explained. "He can't accept that you're going home with Nick tonight."

"We don't even have our own place," Holly said. "I'm just going to his apartment."

"You've never stayed the night," Jackie pointed out.

"True," Holly said. "Dad's so strict; he would never let me do that."

Jackie smiled a little. "He just cares about you. You know that."

Holly nodded. "Yeah."

After Holly got changed, they left the bathroom and said their goodbyes.

"Bye, Aunt Donna." Holly hugged her aunt, then went to Uncle Eric, then Craig, Liam, her mother, and then she got to her father.

"Daddy," she said as she approached him. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Hyde hugged her, and said in her ear, "Tomorrow's too far away."

Holly keeped hugging her father. "Dad, it'll be okay. I'll be fine. I promise."

"Okay," Hyde relented, then sighed. "I love you, Holl. Good night."

"I love you, too, Dad," she said, then watched her family walk away.

"Ready?" Nick asked her.

Holly nodded. "Yeah."

They walked out the door together and drove to his apartment.

"This feels so weird, Nick," Holly admitted.

"What, being married?" Nick asked.

Holly shook her head. "No. Just... being here right now."

Nick raised his eyebrows. "Is this bad?"

"No," Holly said, with a slight laugh. "It's just... my dad isn't calling me telling me to come home. I can actually stay here."

"Alright," Nick said as they sat on the couch. Then, he looked at her. "Holly Hurst. You stayed with the double H, huh?"

"Not my fault that I fell in love with you," Holly said playfully, then kissed him. They kept kissing, and then Holly was on top of him. "I love you," Holly told him.

"I love you, too," Nick said, and they kept kissing until it led to more. Of course, it wasn't the first time they had sex, but it was the first time they did it being married. And that's all that mattered to them. 


	25. Let Go

Almost a month after getting married, Nick and Holly moved into their house that they bought together. The house that they bought was a decent size, because they both had good jobs. This, however, brought up questions when their families visited, consisting of Jennifer, Peter, Jackie and Hyde.

"So," Jennifer said as the two families sat at the dinner table. "Now that you two have a house, have you considered... anything else?"

Holly looked up with her eyebrows raised. "... new furniture?"

"No," Jennifer said with a smile on her face. "Like, kids. Babies."

Hyde choked on his water and Nick dropped his fork on his plate loudly.

"Steven," Jackie asked. "Are you okay?"

Hyde finished coughing and nodded slowly.

"Um..." Nick bit his lip, unsure of what to say. "Well, we haven't talked about that much."

"Better not've," Hyde muttered under his breath, and Jackie lightly hit him in the side.

Jennifer, not picking up on Hyde's discomfort, turned to him. "Oh, do you not want grandchildren?"

"Already got two of 'em," Hyde said.

"Well," Jennifer said, "I have none, because my daughter is only nineteen. And I want grandchildren."

Nick awkwardly laughed. "Okay, Mom, well..." He trailed off uneasily. "Dad, help?" he asked quietly.

Peter jumped up. "Jen, let's go get some more wine from the kitchen."

"Oh! Well... okay!" Jennifer got up and followed her husband into the next room.

"Sorry about that," Nick mumbled toward Hyde, glancing somewhat at his father-in-law. He still made Nick feel uneasy.

Hyde took a deep breath and Jackie squeezed his hand under the table.

"You're gonna make her never want to have kids," Jackie hissed at Hyde.

"Well, do you blame me for not wanting his... thing going anywhere near my daughter?" Hyde exclaimed, and Nick and Holly looked up in alarm.

Holly's mouth fell open and Nick scooted away.

"Dad!"

"Steven!"

"She's my daughter, okay?" Hyde said angrily. "And I don't want you to-"

"Dad, he's my /husband/," Holly said, getting mad. "Okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Hyde said. "But I'm just looking out for you, Holl."

"I don't need to be looked after!" Holly shouted, standing up. "I can look after myself and if that fails, I have someone else to look after me. Not you! God!" She sat back down and put her head in her hands.

Nick watched awkwardly, unsure of what to do. "Holl." He put a comforting hand on her back in effort to get her to raise her head. Hyde glared at him, and Jackie looked shocked, with her eyebrows raised.

"Um, Nick," Jackie said. "How about you and I go in the living room and let these two chat?"

"Sounds good," Nick said, eager to escape.

So, the two walked out into the living room and sat on the couch.

"I am so sorry for the way he's acting," Jackie said sincerely. "It's embarrassing."

"It's, uh... well, it's not your fault," Nick said, nodding. "He's just... really overprotective. And I've known that since the beginning, but I kinda thought it would let up after Holly and I got married."

Jackie shook her head. "It never lets up." She sighed. "It's only with her, too. Probably since she's his only daughter." She looked up to see Holly walking into the living room, still looking mad.

"Aren't you talking to Dad?" Jackie asked.

Holly shook her head violently. "No. I don't want to talk to him."

"Holly, you should," Jackie urged.

"Nope." Holly shook her head again. "Not doing it. You go talk to him."

Jackie sighed. "Fine." She got up and prepared herself to, yet again, explain to Hyde why this behavior wasn't right.

Holly frowned and sat down next to Nick, putting her head on his shoulder. "My dad ruins everything."

"Not everything," Nick replied. "Just everything involving us."

"And that's all that's important to me," Holly said. "It's frustrating."

Nick nodded. "I get it."

"I just feel bad for you," Holly said. "He's so rude to you."

"I'll manage, Holl," Nick said with a laugh. "I just want you to be happy."

Holly looked up at him and smiled, and then they kissed. "Thank you," she said to Nick. "You're the best."

Nick smiled back. "We should probably get up and explain to my parents what just happened. If they didn't hear the whole thing on their own."

Holly nodded and they went into the kitchen. She apologized to Jennifer and Peter, and explained what her father did, and they understood.

"I can't imagine how I'd feel if Rissy got married," Peter said, referring to Nick's sister Larissa. "I used to get mad when she got a boyfriend."

"Sounds like she's in for what I'm going through then," Holly said with a joking smile, and Peter laughed.

"Let's get going, Jen," Peter said. "Things may get weird and personal. I wouldn't mind missing that."

"Okay," Jennifer said, and they each hugged Nick and Holly, then stopped to politely wave goodbye to Jackie and Hyde. Once they left, Nick turned to Holly.

"Ready to go in there?" he asked. "I mean, I may not make it out alive, but..."

Holly laughed. "Let's do it."

They walked in the dining room. Jackie and Hyde were standing and talking, until they saw them come in. Then, Hyde just looked over at them.

"Dad, will you apologize?" Holly asked.

"For what?" Hyde asked, getting pissed. "You're the one who said you don't need me. Who says that to their father?"

"Someone who's /sick/ of being embarrassed and overprotected, and who's been that way since the day they were born," Holly hissed, stepping toward her father.

Hyde threw his hands up, then brought them back down, hitting himself on the sides. "Fine. I care about. That's what you hate? You hate me caring about you?" He escaped Jackie's grip and stepped closer to his daughter. "Some people don't have good relationships with their fathers. Some girls have fathers who don't give a rat's ass about what they do, and they end up living crap lives. Do you wish you had that instead, Holly?" He seethed. "You'd rather have a dad who ignored you growing up than one who cares about you?"

Jackie stepped up and pulled him back. "Steven, that's not what she means."

"Dad, I'm just saying that you keep putting blame on Nick, or making him feel awkward, and he didn't do anything wrong!" Holly sighed. "I know that you care about me, but you're going over the top. I mean, for God's sake, you're acting like Mom. And we always used to make fun of her for doing that kind of stuff."

Jackie shot her daughter a surprised look.

Hyde shrugged and looked down. "Can't blame a guy for lovin' his daughter." He looked up, talking to Nick but not quite looking at him. "Can you imagine having a daughter, and having her grow up, being yours for so many years? ... and then one day, she chooses someone, and she doesn't need you like she used to."

Nick bit his lip. "No, sir, I can't. But I'd imagine it'd be hard."

"It is." Hyde's voice cracked, and Holly instantly felt bad.

"Oh, Daddy." Holly walked over to her father and hugged him, then whispered in his ear. "I'll always need you for something, Daddy."

He smiled sadly as she walked away, and Jackie decided to take advantage of the silence.

"Steven, we should get going,"  
Jackie said. "Liam could be doing something bad. You know how he can be."

Hyde nodded. "Okay. Let's go." He went over to hug his daughter again, then walked up to Nick and stood there for a moment before offering his hand. Nick shook it graciously, and then Hyde walked away.

"Okay, bye," Jackie said, waving. "See you two later."

"Bye." The door shut.

Holly sighed. "I'm so, so, so sorry."

"No, it's fine," Nick said. "Let's just... clean all of this up." He pointed to the table.

"Okay." They both started picking things up and moving them to the kitchen. "So... about that thing your mom asked."

"Kids?" Nick asked. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I mean... what do you think about it?" Holly asked.

Nick shrugged. "Well, we both want 'em, right?"

Holly nodded. "But when?"

"Well." Nick thought. "I would say the earlier the better, right? As long as you're comfortable with it. I mean, it's not like either of us are in college or anything."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too," Holly said. "Oh my God, can you imagine having kids? It's just so... oh my God."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Are those good or bad oh my God's?"

Holly shrugged and smiled. "It's just a weird thought. I mean, having kids just playing around here."

Nick laughed. "Well, there's not just gonna be a couple of random kids. They'll be ours."

"Yeah, I know." Holly smiled. "Guess I just can't picture it. I'll be terrified, too, for the pain. And getting fat."

"You don't get fat," Nick said with a laugh. "You have something inside of you, which is different. Plus, your mom has had three kids, and she's like, as small as you."

Holly shrugged. "I guess I do have good genetics."

Nick smiled. "No need to worry then."  



	26. I Only Wanna Be With You

PRESENT DAY:

Twenty-two year old Liam Hyde walked into his brother's home and grinned when his nieces ran up to him.

"Uncle Liam!" Arianna shouted. "I just got back from school!"

Liam smiled and hugged her. "Yeah, how was it?"

His niece stuck out her tongue. "Bad."

Natalie laughed and walked around the corner. "Come on, Ari. It's not that bad. Twelve more years to go!"

Arianna frowned, and then four year-old Dina walked around the corner.

"Ari, let's go play," she said, tugging at her sister.

"No." Arianna looked around for her father. "Dave!"

Liam raised his eyebrows and looked at Natalie. "Dave?"

"She's been doing that lately," Natalie explained with a slight laugh. "And of course, I'm Nat. She listens to us talk."

"Wow," Liam said with a laugh.

"I'm in the living room, Ari!" Davey's voice came from around the corner. Arianna ran into the other room toward her father and Dina followed.

Natalie looked over, then turned back towards Liam. "Where's your parents?"

"I think they're coming with Holly and Nick," Liam said. "They're always with one of us. I don't think they know what to do with themselves since I moved out."

"Alright." Natalie looked over at her husband in the other room. "I think they should be here soon."

"Okay." Liam took off his shoes and sat in the living room on the loveseat.

"Hey, Li," Davey said.

"Hey." Liam leaned back on the couch and looked at the TV. "Whatcha watching?"

Davey shrugged. "The girls stole the remote from me." He looked as his brother. "Where's your girlfriend?"

Liam smiled slyly. "What girlfriend?"

Davey raised his eyebrows. "What did you do?"

He shrugged. "Didn't feel like having a girlfriend. Yeah, Tori was cool, but I can't be tied down."

Davey shook his head and grinned. "Man, you're crazy. So what do you do?"

"Go out," Liam said with a shrug. "Go to work. Not much."

"Huh. What a life." Davey looked at the door and saw his mother, father, sister, and brother-in-law enter.

The girls jumped up to hug their grandma, grandpa, aunt, and uncle.

Hyde and Jackie walked in and sat down in the living room by Davey, after saying their hellos.

"Hi, Ari and D!" Holly struggled to bend down because of her eight-months pregnant belly.

"Careful, babe," Nick said as her nieces jumped up and down. Holly and Nick went into the living room and sat down with the rest of the family.

"Anyone want anything?" Natalie asked, appearing in the doorway.

"No thanks," echoed around the room.

"Aunt Holly," Arianna said, walking up to her aunt, "When is my cousin gonna be here?"

Holly smiled and put a hand on her stomach. "He should be here in less than a month."

"What're you guys gonna name him?" Liam asked.

Nick shrugged. "Names are so different nowadays, so we figured we'd stick with the trend. It's 2012 after all."

"Emmett is a nice name," Holly cut in.

Nick rolled his eyes. "She's been on me with this one forever. I keep saying that it sounds too much like Emma, but she doesn't care."

"Know what I did when Jackie was pregnant?" Hyde said, raising his eyebrows at Nick. "Stayed out of it. Jackie named Dave, Holly, and Liam, and I didn't say a word."

Jackie slapped his arm. "You're such a liar." She looked at Nick. "He prevented me from naming Liam Quinn."

Hyde snorted. "D'ya blame me?"

Liam raised his eyebrows. "You were gonna name me Quinn? What kind of chick wants to bang a guy named Quinn?"

"The ugly ones," Hyde said matter-of-fact. "Aren't you glad I changed her mind?"

"Hell yeah!" Liam laughed.

"Whatever," Holly said, ignoring her father and brother's conversation. "I just want the perfect name for my perfect son." She grinned, then stopped in thought. "I sure hope he isn't ugly." She frowned at the thought.

"No baby of yours will be ugly," Jackie stated. "The two of you are so good-looking... it wouldn't make sense for you to have an ugly child. Plus, it'll be related to me. None of my kids or grandkids are ugly." She smiled. "You're welcome."

Hyde rolled his eyes and smiled.

0000000

A month later, Hyde woke up at seven o'clock to the phone ringing. He jumped up and got it.

"Hello? ... really? ... yeah, we'll be right there!" Hyde hung up the phone and ran to quickly wake up his wife.

"Jacks," he said, gently shaking her. "Holly's having the baby."

Jackie jumped out of her sleep. "Let's go, Steven!"

"We're not dressed," Hyde said flatly.

Jackie rolled her eyes, got out of bed, and quickly changed. Ten minutes later, they were out the door and on the way to the hospital.

When they got there, they noticed that Davey and Natalie were already there, in the waiting room with their two girls.

"Any news?" Jackie asked.

Natalie shrugged. "She's in labor, I guess. They won't let anybody in there."

Jackie sighed and pouted. "Steven, this is stupid."

"I'm calling Eric and Donna," Hyde said, holding up his finger as he approached a pay phone.

0000000

A few hours later, Shawn Steven Hyde was born, after his grandfather.

After everyone left, Hyde and Jackie walked into the hallway. Jackie felt a tear escape her eyes.

Hyde noticed. "Jacks." He looked at her. "What's wrong?"

Jackie shook her head. "It's stupid."

"Just tell me, Jackie." He put an arm around you. "It's okay."

Jackie smiled. "I know... this just takes me back. I remember when I had Liam, and Holly... even Davey, when you weren't around. Now I have this great, amazing family." She wiped her eyes. "I'm so glad I have you. I'm so glad I don't have to keep hiding my heart, no matter how long ago it was. I couldn't have imagined that I would have this amazing life. To still have Donna, Eric, their kids, Fez, and Michael in our lives... to be with you." She sniffed. "I'm just so glad."

"Jackie," Hyde said, taking her hand. "It's not over. We've got a new grandkid. It's just beginning again." He smiled and wiped away one of her tears.

Jackie smiled and nodded. "I know. I love you so much, Steven."

Hyde grinned and kissed her. "I know, doll. I love you, too."


End file.
